


Searching For A Soul To Keep

by Cyan_Soul



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Agoraphobia, All Names Have Been Changed To Protect The Innocent And Not So Innocent, Anxiety, Author loves to chat in the Comments, Based Off My Life, College, Convention, Cosplay, Dancing, Drama Queen Guys, Established Alphys/Undyne, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Reader, Flirt Master Frisk, Flower Pot Flowey, Fluff and Angst, Group Drama, Is A Foot Massage From Another Guy Really Cheating?, Jerkwads, Long-Distance Friendship, Mental Abuse, Not With Sans Though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Papyrus Being Papyrus, Reader Is A Huge Nerd, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader can sing, Sans is a huge nerd, Singing, Small Tidbits Of Physical Abuse, Smol Animals Called Soul Searchers, Smol Soul Animals Based On The Golden Compass's Dæmons, Some puns, Tainted Love, Yep Theres More Than One, it's complicated - Freeform, ok just a warning theres going to be lots of songs, slow burn?, some racism, soulmates?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2018-11-08 06:56:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11076357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyan_Soul/pseuds/Cyan_Soul
Summary: Word has hit the world, Monsters have reached the surface from Mt. Ebbot! But after that exciting news story and the follow ups, what happens? Absolutely nothing.  Nothing changes for you, a college student, studying from the community college in the backwoods of the small town you grew up in. So, as the stories quiet down and the years go by, you forget there even is another race living among you. That is, until you meet some during a trip to a big time nerd convention.Based on if Monsters had a physical manifestation of their soul (dæmon/soul searcher/searcher) fromThe Golden Compass!Officially named Compasstale and made by yours truly!





	1. Monsters Can Cosplay Too!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's finally up. And there will be more. I promised and I tend to keep those!  
> *Note* this is a side story as of now and updates will not come accordingly since I have three other works ongoing as of 6/2/17.  
> *Another Note* This has absolutely nothing to do with my ongoing stories and is just a way to get out my ideas that do not fit.  
> Any questions on anything, feel free to ask! Comments fuel meh!

You took in a breath of fresh indoor air while waiting in line at the ticket area to get your badges. Your heart fluttered as you were registered into the con. This weekend was gonna be the best one in forever! You bounced excitedly next to your boyfriend as he talked to your friends. Your white wig from your cosplay swished as someone called out your character’s name and waved. You waved back to the unknown person, giggling.

“Calm down, it’s like this is your first con or something, hun.” Conner grabbed your hand and yanked it down. You looked at him.

“Come on, we haven’t been to a con in ages! Have some fun!” You chided you boyfriend.  He grumbled and turned back to your friends while you started chatting with the people in front of you. Finally, you eagerly clasped your badge and fan-girled along with your friends as one by one they joined you and split up into groups to different panels and places. Eventually and inevitably, you ended up separated from the group when people kept asking for your picture. It wasn’t your first time alone in a convention center, so you shrugged it off. After all, you were twenty and enjoying yourself.

You caught up with them and your boyfriend by noon, for lunch.

“___! Do you wanna go see the wiafu panel? There’s a talent show after that too!” Your friend, Sandy asked.

“Not a chance! She’s going to cheer for me at the smash tournament!” Conner cut in.

“Um, guys, I kinda wanted to catch the monster panel…” You told them.

“Come on, you can skip that. I heard it’s gonna be lame anyway.” Conner persisted.

“Ugh, fine.” You broke down.

“Well, come on! I don’t wanna be late.” Conner told you and you were pulled along with a few of your friends to the event room, but as you kinda figured you would, you got bored watching the duels between characters on the TV screen and snuck out. You sighed and wandered, now that you didn’t have a place to be. Suddenly you were blindsided with a tackle.

“Hey! Wa-” You looked up to see a skeletal wolf shake itself as if it had fur. Orange ears flickered to life and they lowered as it whined at you in apology. Another boney animal glided out of the air and chittered at the wolf, landing on it’s shoulder.

“forte, what’d we say about not leaving pap?” a voice behind you asked as, strong warm hands pulled you up. The wolf’s head lowered.

“Thanks, I-” You found yourself staring into a very lifelike skeleton’s eyes, which were tiny lights. “Whoa, your cosplay is pretty badass!”

“ya think so?” he chuckled. He was wearing a dark robe, along with his skeleton mask and gloves.

“Yeah, how’d you make that mask? It must’ve taken forever!” you gushed. The lights in his sockets went out and the small, little boney creature chittered and snapped at my feet angrily. “Hey!”

“comic, it’s ok!” he laughed. “kid, this ain’t a mask.” He lowered his hood. _Oh_. He was a monster.

“I am _so_ sorry! I didn’t mean-”

“i know, i know.” he held up a hand to stop me politely. “so who’re you supposed to be, huh?”

“Oh! I’m Dani Phantom, or at least the cloned female version from the show.” You explained. “How about you?” you asked as the smaller skeletal animal popped up on his shoulder.

“just some undead wizard and his dragon or somethin’ like that. i was told i had dress up at least once.” He rolled his eyes, but his unwavering smile was relaxed, so you assumed he was that guy who was dragged in by a bunch of friends or someone younger. “so’re you here by yourself?”

“Oh god, no. I don’t think I would have fun without my friends for three days. I guess I’d rather be doing my hobbies after one day.” you chuckled as you sank down with your back on pillar. He sat down too.

“so i take it you don’t see many monsters, huh?”

“No, not really.” You said in wonder as he ran his hand over his little animal friend. “Is that a searcher?” You asked him.

“yeah, cute, ain’t she?” It hissed in distaste as he laughed and put up his hood again. “so, what’s your real name? i don’t usually get ta meet a lotta humans who hold a conversation this long with me.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” You frowned. He seemed nice enough. “It’s ___.”

“i’m-”

“___! Where were you? You should’ve seen the epicness this monster pulled off on Shade!” One your friends, Lori bounced on her boyfriend’s arm. Shade didn’t talk much and his real name was Glen, but when bullshit went on, he was almost always right there or the center of it.

“I was blindsided by the choke slam. Shock rat did too much damage.” He stated quietly. It made sense to you he meant, he played Ganondorf, who had a somewhat suicide move to grab onto opponents and hurl them and the player off screen, which was the “choke slam” and “shock rat” meant the other player used Pikachu and somehow probably survived his move.

“You missed me play.” Conner said shortly, frowning. That wasn’t true, you had stuck around just as his last round ended in defeat. You weren’t really interested after that and you knew he wasn’t going to win anyway.

“I was there until you lost. It felt crowded in there.” you told him.

“Yeah, whatever, who’s your friend?” he asked suspiciously. The skeleton guy got up and held out his hand to Conner.

“sans. sans the skeleton.” Conner shook his hand and a long, drawn out farting sound came from their hands. Your friends and Conner were stunned, but you started laughing like you hadn’t in a long time.

“Hey, cut it out! It’s not _that_ funny.” Conner scowled, yanking his hand away. “And that’s not even a good cosplay!”

“who said it was a cosplay, kid? these are my pj’s.” his dragon squawked on his shoulders as he lowered his hood while you kept laughing.

“Well, that’s a turn of events.” Shade coughed, trying not to laugh, then twisted his neck with his hands as he usually did during bullshit moments. Conner stepped back.

“___, let’s go. This guy’s a creep.” Conner grabbed your arm, pulled you up and started to drag you away.

“Hey, you don’t know that!” A flash of blue light met your eye behind Conner as you struggled in his grip. He paled.

“now, i might not be the same species, but i don’t think that’s how ya treat a lady.” Your new skeleton friend growled behind him, his soft white eye lights being replaced with one blue ring, giving him an even more intimidating look than when he didn’t appear to have any pupils. You wrenched your arm out of his grip.

“I’m going for a walk.” you said shortly to your friends who had watched in silence.

“Wait, can’t we talk about this?” Conner shouted at you.

“Later.” You said in a deadly tone, then ran off into the crowd as you felt yourself crumble inside. Sans watched you.

“isn’t anybody gonna follow her?” he asked.

“Stay out of this, you caused it!” Conner accused him and stormed off toward the crowd. He turned to your friends.

“___... is, well, in a bad spot… we can’t tell her to break up with Conner or she’ll throw a fit… last time someone did that…” Sandy trailed off.

“She’s scary sometimes.” Shade told Sans. “Like now.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her, Mr. Skeleton. When she needs us, she’ll text us.” Lori told him calmly.

“yeah, alright.” he dropped it, but it gave reason for him to wonder what you did.


	2. Battered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans catches up to ya reader!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you guys go! There's a lot of links in this chapter and a picture... yeah, I did that!

How could you have been so _stupid?_ Of course he wasn’t going to change for one convention. You sniffled in your dark corner you had found, away from the crowds. This was supposed to be the time to have fun with Conner, instead, he made it worse. Your excuses for him the last four years were starting to crumple and lose their sense of validity, except for one: _you loved him_. But now, you were starting to wonder that at all. No, you loved him, you couldn’t bear the thought of losing him. _Then why would he take you out of the hotel room arrangements? Why did he say things behind your back? Why did he never admit you were right, instead say he always was? Why did he push you away and always expect you to be there? Why did grab you like that in public?_ You squeezed your eyes shut to stop thinking negative thoughts. You loved Conner, he was your high school sweetheart. Maybe if you talked to him, it would get better, but not yet. Nope, you were still a mess, teeming with emotion that needed to get out. All you had was your phone with it’s little music app. It didn’t matter, you were in a quiet dark room where no one could hear you or the music. You were feeling like an angry beat would help you this time, so you scrolled down to [Anarchy](https://soundcloud.com/igroundbreaking/anarchy-single?in=user-963562461/sets/patience) and started singing along.

_“Tell me what I need_

_Tell me what I want_

_Won’t say a thing or speak my mind_

_‘Cause you are on your way to prove me wrong.”_  

You took a deep breath.

_“It’s just the start_

_They’re only warming up_

_It’s only a matter of time_

_Until they realize I’m done.”_

You got up slowly and stood still for the music, dead-eyed. Then whispered the next lyrics.

_“They take it all away…_

_No longer free today…_

_They take it all away…_

_No longer free today…”_

You stared hard at the floor and started dancing at the next set of lyrics.

_“Some call it anarchy_

_With nothing left to lose_

_Some are just like me_

_Who think they've got a point to prove_

_They'll run into the fire_

_For what they think is true_

_I'd rather die than have to do the things I do for you!”_

By this time you were completely immersed in the music, you drew your hand across your throat in theatrical display, matching up with the lyrics.

_“I guess it's time to throw it all away_

_I'll cut off every one of you and still end up okay_

_I guess it's time to smash it all apart_

_To step down from all the divine_

_Now I'm back at the start!”_

You couldn’t imitate the voice fluctuations clearly made by editing, but it still made you feel better spitting out those words with your heightened emotion. Quick movements to match the beat was dancing, right? If it was, you didn’t think it was bad, besides, no one was watching.

_“Some call it anarchy_

_With nothing left to lose_

_Some are just like me_

_Who think they've got a point to prove_

_They'll run into the fire_

_For what they think is true_

_I'd rather die than have to do the things I do for you!_

_They start to run their call_

_Try to make us fall_

_Well no not me, it just can't be_

_They know I hate it all!”_

You started bopping your head while closing your eyes, slowing down to where you ended up from all your flailing.

_“Let's hit it hard_

_Let's give them all we've got_

_I don't want any sympathy_

_While punching me until I drop!”_

You opened your eyes again and in a hushed voice said the next words with a chilling smile.

_“Inside their perfect world_

_People like me don't work_

_I'm broken from what I've heard!”_

The volume of your shrill voice rose as you sang the chorus again, animating yourself at a fierce tempo.

_“And everything's speeding up to our extinction_

_We're down to only a few with our ambition_

_It's trying to kill us off, but even if it does_

_I will not be a part of your utopia!”_      

You continued with the lyrics, not noticing a silent spectator at the door. By the end of the song you were shouting and uncomfortably sweaty. You jumped when he started clapping.

“not bad. what’s that song from, that show you mentioned?”

“N-no.” your face felt so hot from embarrassment as you stared at the ground. “I-it’s just a y-youtuber.”

“you wanna tell me what the deal with that guy was out there?” He pointed outside the room, asking softly.

“I-it’s complicated.” You said shortly. Seeing as the skeleton was blocking the doorway, you felt trapped.

“your singin’ was pretty good. you should sign up for the karaoke contest tomorrow. i know technically two of the judges.” Sans winked. He was curious why your soul brightened a bit, but your demeanor didn’t change. His little dragon chirped at his side and he moved out from in front of the door. Wordlessly and still embarrassed, you started to walk out. Sans sighed. “i know this might sound like an insult to ya, but what is danny phantom?” he asked your back. Your soul brightened a lot more and his smile relaxed. He hadn’t even noticed he was straining it.

“It’s one of the better animated kid shows in my opinion, at least made by the U.S. It’s about how a fourteen year old kid accidentally turned on a machine his parents made and- you know what, the theme song just about covers the backstory. Here.” You flipped your phone onto the Youtube app and showed him the [theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2djx83-4XNQ&t=4s).

“so… this kid got powers because of some horrible accident?” he asked after the song played through.

“That’s more than half the known superheroes ever created.” You laughed at him.

“well, sorry, but i was born with ‘em, if you call them powers. i call it magic, jus’ like everyone else. it’s a normal thing for me.” he shrugged.

“Wait, really?” You asked, now curious. In response, his face brightened in… blue. “Are you ok?” you asked when he didn’t respond to your first question.

“yeah, i’m ok.”

“But your face turned blue.” You pointed out to him and it got deeper. “Seriously, are you turning into a blueberry like in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?” You asked, concerned. The little dragon laughed at him and shook her head.

“seriously, don’t worry ‘bout it.” he said nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

“Then tell me why I shouldn’t worry about it.” You crossed your arms. The dragon snorted louder.

“quiet, you.” he narrowed his gaze at her and turned back to you. “most monsters don’t have blood, so instead, you’re seeing my equivalent, which is magic. mine’s blue.” You didn’t know _why_ it fascinated you, but it did.

“That’s my favorite color!” You blurted out. “I wish it worked like that for me.” He looked surprised at your attentiveness to detail like that and your interest over the most mundane of things to him. Speaking of which, he had forgotten what he really wanted to do. To get a closer look at your EXP and LV. It looked to him you didn’t have a mean bone in your body. He was confused at focusing his gaze on you. From what your friends said, you did _something_ , but no. You were so _pure_ , far from the adults he normally saw, who, even if they had no marks of violence, were dim or faded as anger and hate was learned and used.

“Hey, are you ok?” It looked like he had started staring into space to you and you were just a little concerned not knowing if that was a thing monsters regularly did and despite his smile, his face was expressionless.

“not this again.” Sans chuckled. “i’m doin’ ok. sorry, i was just thinking, that’s all.” You then realized this was your opportunity. After the talk had died down about monsters, much like your favorite games, you would ask the internet some questions about them, but you weren’t sure about some because of conflicting answers.

“Can I ask you a few questions about monsters?” he seemed to freeze for a moment and think about it.

“only if i can ask some questions about humans.” He answered.

“Promise you won’t get offended and that most of them are because I’m ignorant?” You questioned. He seemed to hesitate longer as if something you said bothered him already.

“i’ll, uh, try to contain my offenses.” Sans said nervously. His mind was going a mile a minute the moment you asked him to promise something so _casually_. It was something small, there was no harm to it, but why? Why use that word of all? It bound him, couldn’t it bind you as well?

“So, uh, hmm… I’ve tried to look this up, but I can’t seem to find a reliable source, it’s mostly theories, but what is a Soul Searcher? Some people think they’re just pets or something you practice magic on and brought to life or familiars that kinda just appear whenever they want to.” You listed off the most popular theories.

“well, in all technicality, searchers are us, an embodiment of our soul an’ it gets reflected by who we are, by what form it takes and what gender it is. they’re very special to us.” Sans scratched the back of his skull. “appearing whenever they want to, actually depends on what size they are, a monster’s abilities and what type of monster they are. small ones can hide and only observant humans notice them. some have monsters that have teleporting abilities or something and special monsters, boss monsters, are strong enough that their searchers can almost roam freely. regular monster’s searchers… well, they can’t move as far from their monsters or it starts to hurt ‘em.” Sans explained to you. He smiled relaxed as he watched your wide eyes, eager for the information.

“Your turn.” You reminded him as he started staring.

“right, uh… where are you from?” he asked. You weren’t about to tell him the exact place you were from, that might be a little bit of a problem.

“New York, Western New York, by Niagara Falls. Everyone assumes I’m from the city if I don’t specify.” You said quickly. You quickly pulled up an image you saved for just this sort of thing if someone asked.

“See? This is what I have to live with.”              

“wow, really?” he asked, leaning in to look at the screenshot.

“Yeah, it gets kinda annoying actually.” You admitted.

“sorry i asked.”

“Nah, it’s ok. You didn’t go on as if I lived in the city, that’s the annoying part.” You shrugged. “So who did that wolf Soul Searcher belong to?” You asked curiously.

“that was my bro’s searcher.” Sans told you.

“So he’s a Boss monster?” You asked and he chuckled.

“you pick it up fast. yeah, we both are.” His little dragon suddenly came out of nowhere and touched down on his left shoulder and squeaked a bit into his… ear hole? “speaking of, i gotta check to see if everything’s going ok in the vending room. a couple of my friends are setting up still. you’re welcome to come, but there might be a little trouble.” He warned you.

“I could use a little trouble.” You smirked and followed him.       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So any other fellow New Yorkers who've run into the same problem I have? Because this is a thing.  
> I wonder which monster is vending?  
> Credit to GroundBreaking for Anarchy. Check out his music, it's awesome!


	3. we1ComES Ta dA TeM Sh0P!!1!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go see what all trouble's about!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agoraphobia- fear of places and situations that cause panic, helplessness and embarrassment.  
> In Reader, it is triggered by being tightly compressed within a crowd of unknown people.

You followed him into the vending room, where you were briefly stopped to show your badges to the security guard. He led you through the maze of pop up stands in the massive room, crowded by

So

Many

People.

You let your eyes shift to all the plushies and other merchandise they offered to calm yourself and let your excitement take over, while of course keeping an eye on him. All too soon however, the crowd closed in around you and you felt your throat tighten. You saw Sans shift a glance back at you and you jumped as claws griped into the skin tight second layer of your cosplay and a weight steadied on your shoulder as a tail curved around the other side of your neck. His dragon chirped, her bones dusting blue, much like his cheek bones did earlier as she kept you on course and somehow steady. When the crowd thinned and he was waiting, his face was flushed in blue, just like before, but this time sheens of blue tinged sweat were rolling down his forehead.

“Are you ok?” You asked.

“fine.” It came out as a suspiciously high, short word and you looked at him as if he was acting weird. Truth being told, he wasn’t. Sans was _completely_ surprised Comic had purposely landed on you. He was her and she was him, so _why_? Sometimes he didn’t even know why she did something, but this took the cake and he echoed the same question to her as she jumped over to him. You hadn’t made any move to hold her or even pet her, so it was fine, right? That feeling, that rush of contact, it was so _foreign_. He didn’t know how to feel about what just happened.

“you saw her. she needed something she doesn’t have.” She whispered back to him. You remained blissfully unaware just how aware Sans was as his color faded from the back of his skull and he had continued walking, wondering what that was all about.

However, your attention shifted to a shill voice.

“nUuuu! tEm FlAKs foR eAts, hOomaN!”

“But they’re just ripped up pieces of paper, you can’t just sell those and call it food!” a guy looked distressed at the adorable cat-dog monster on a tall stool.

“nO rEfunDos!” It told him with a smile, pointing to a sign on the stand.

“But-”

“hey, buddy, what seems to be the problem?” Sans asked.

“Your _friend_ over there sold me ripped up pieces of paper and called it food!” he said with a bright red face. You didn’t know if he was relieved to talk to someone who talked normally, or frustrated. Probably both.

“did ya try ‘em?” Sans asked him, his eyes widening to dare him to.

“Well, no…”

“temmie isn’t giving you a refund, ‘cause you probably put your money in her college fund.” Sans pointed out her jar labeled “Pay f0r C0oL lEg!” “and they might look like pieces of paper, but it _is_ food. granted, not very healthy, kinda like candy.” Sans explained to him. “it’s monster food. it’ll look different, so try it ‘fore you complain.”

“Alright… but if it’s not…”

“you’re not gettin’ a refund. it’s not my stand, i’m just a translator.”

“DaNk c0O, fRieNz0!1!” The little monster chirped on her stool.

“no prob, bob.”

“nUuuU! TemM1e!”

“right, ___, this is temmie.” Sans introduced you, chuckling as the guy licked a paper bit, nodded and walked off, putting the whole thing in his mouth, seemingly satisfied.

“H0i!1! i’M TeMm1e! aNd dIs Is mUh fRieN, tEMmiE!” she pointed to a vibrating toy the same size as her in a haze-mat suit.

“hOi! TeM is LlergIc t0 h0mOns! here cOmE oThER FrieNd0!” Well, it wasn’t a toy. This one pointed out another identical monster walking to them.

“Why, hello, was there trouble?” this one asked Sans.

“nah, they just needed a translator.” He waved it off.

“Good to hear!” Her derpy smile was so cute, but it was off putting how proper she sounded. “Hello, human, I’m Bob. Can we be of any service?”

“What do you guys sell?” You asked.

“TEM FLAKS!!1!” Both Temmie’s shouted, their faces expanding excitedly. Holy shit. What did you just do?

“OH MY GOD, I WANNA TAKE YOU HOME!” You squealed.

“You’re not going to kidnap my villagemates, are you?” Bob asked worriedly. You laughed.

“No, nothing like that. Oh. My. God.” You stared at the vibrating Temmie in the haze-mat suit. Her eyes, nose and mouth had _vibrated outside the helmet_. “Boop!” You just barely touched her nose and her face retracted.

“hOIVS!” she cried out and her face bloated in spots as you clapped your hands over your face in horror.

“I’m _so_ sorry! I-” you stopped when you realized both Sans and Bob were laughing. “…is she ok?” you asked.

“Don’t worry, that’s just her magic acting up. She’s really over dramatic.” Bob chuckled. “Would you like to donate some money for Temmie to go to college or spend some on Temmie flakes?

You opened your mouth to answer, only to let out a shriek. BUMBLE BEE! It was in your face!

“b0bBy, nUuU!” the Temmie with hives shouted at it as you swatted the air.

“hey, there kiddo, calm down, it’s jus’ another searcher.” Sans told you and you stopped flailing around, feeling like you were an idiot, but then the bumble bee smashed into the haze mat helmet five times in a row before it landed on it. You weren’t sure who was the idiot in this close proximity, but it was cute idiocy, that you almost wanted to protect.

“Thank god.” You let out a sigh of relief. Your phone buzzed in your pocket.

**Sandy:** _hey, are you ok?_

You took a deep breath.

“that your friends checking up on you?” Sans asked as looked at your phone.

“Yeah, they know I need space sometimes.” you smiled sadly.

**You:** _yeah, I’m good._

Immediately she texted you back.

**Sandy:** _where’d you run off to?_

**You:** _the vending room_

From across the convention hall and unknown to you, Sandy panicked.

“HOLY SHIT, SHE’S IN THE VENDING ROOM ALONE!” she shouted and your other friends snapped to, picked up their assorted bags and booked it there before what they thought was inevitable happened.

**You:** _I’m fine, I have someone with me._

You pinged again to Sandy and she let out a sigh of relief.

**Sandy:** _good to know, we were already halfway there. Who are ya with?_

**You:** _that skeleton guy. He’s pretty cool. he asked if I wanted to tag along and meet some of his friends and omg they are adorable! They sell some kinda monster food, he says it some sort of novelty item lol_

“She’s ok, but I think we should keep an eye out for her. She’s with that skeleton guy and we don’t know a lot about monsters, so if she thinks he’s cool, he better be. ___’s naïve as it is, but she’ll figure out what he wants eventually, as long as he doesn’t hurt her.” Sandy relayed.

“Then he’s got us to talk to.” Shade said quietly, cracking his knuckles and twisting his neck in seriousness this time.

“Wait, are we talking about the skeleton or Connor?” Lori asked.

“Good question.” Sandy pondered.  

Back in the vending room, you had decided what you were going to do. “I think I’ll donate a dollar for your college fund.” You smiled and put in the money.

“yAYa!” the Temmie took the jar and hopped off her stool, under the table. She hopped back on without the jar, with a college grad cap on. “TeM iS SmErts n0W!!1! teM cAn SEl1 TeMm1e aMor noWs!” The haze mat Temmie and Bob dragged out the most badass looking armor you’d ever seen.

“HOLY SHIT! I probably can’t afford that kinda thing, but that’s AMAZING!” You marveled.

“It’s only fifty of your human dollars.” Bob spoke up. “We have more.” Wow, that was actually affordable for something as real as that. “Guaranteed to stop all magical attacks and some weapons!”

“anDa hOIVS!”

“Guys, I appreciate you showing me, but I’ll get killed if I bring that home.” You giggled and turned back to Sans. “Hey, can you help me get out? Crowds are really not my thing.” you told him apologetically.

“sure thing, ___.” He winked. You really seemed to be in high spirits now, even as you walked closer than a normal person would. He relaxed as your eyes grew wide and sparkled.

“Ooo!” You squealed. “A Mew!” You pointed out your favorite Pokémon plushie. It was so FLUFFY!

“it’s ok with me if you wanna stop and get it.” Sans told you quietly.

“No, first day I scope out the place, don’t worry about it. There’s a few of them.” You pointed out.

 “ok, you wanna do that instead?” he asked. You looked at him like he was crazy. No one ever offered to do something you wanted. It was always you who had to ask a friend and you knew Conner didn’t have the patience to let you look or just didn’t care for your different interests any longer. He had abandoned you several times before while scoping, leading to the ever present medical staff to take care of your anxiety ridden phobia.

“It can get kinda boring.” You warned him. “And I kinda screech a lot, because just look at all this _stuff_!” You giggled.

“i’m cool with it.” Sans chuckled. “trust me, i know someone who screeches louder than that and she’s harder to keep up with in a place like this. in fact, i think her girlfriend’s havin’ a fun time eggin’ her on.”

“Where are your friends anyway?” You asked, a little apprehensive about keeping him away from them. “Aren’t they worried about you?”

“nah, comic’s been checking up on them now n’ again.” He pet her, running a hand over her exposed spine and she acted like a cat, arching her back to meet his hand.

“Ok, if you’re alright with this…” you spotted the infamous imported food stall that every convention catered to. “Hey, Sans, have you ever tried Pocky?”   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Running gag- all of the Temmie's Searchers are named Bob. Bob's searcher is named Shirley. Most of their Searchers happen to be male, including Bob's.  
> Also. The hOIVS Temmie has a bumble bee searcher. Let that sink in for a moment.  
> ...


	4. Talks And Sign-Ups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More friendly friends~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go guys! I had a lot of fun with this one!  
> *giggles*

You laughed as Sans balanced Pocky between his teeth while you both walked. Once he tasted a stick that you gave him out of the box you bought, he got five more, stashing them in his robe.

“How are you even eating? You don’t move your mouth!” You giggled.

“oh, i _can_ , i just don’t usually.” Sans chuckled lightly. You heard a crunch as his dragon playfully bit off the other end of his Pocky. “hey! that was mine!” You giggled at him shooing her and thought you saw the faintest of smiles coming from her maw. It certainly took your attention off the crowds.

“Oh! Hey, what time is it?” You asked he shrugged, so you pulled out your phone and sighed. “I missed it.”

“what’d ya miss?” he asked.

“The Pokémon battle tournament. I was too busy being upset, so it’s not your fault and don’t worry, I can always do the one tomorrow.” You shrugged it off.

“Hey! ____!" You looked around to the familiar sound of your fluffiest friend, CJ. It wasn’t long until you spotted him, the guy couldn’t hide very easily unless he wanted to. “What are you doing here alone in the vending room?”

“I met a new friend.” You motioned to Sans.

“’sup?” Sans held up a hand in greeting.

“This is Sans, CJ, he’s a monster, and pretty cool.” You told him.

“Hey.” CJ greeted back.

“And Sans, this is CJ, my first friend I met in college.” You introduced him.

“i know she said i’m pretty cool, but my bro is cooler.” Sans joked. CJ seemed pretty relaxed around him.

“Listen, you don’t mind if I steal ____ from ya? I appreciate you helping her around the vending room, but we’re just checking up with everyone else in our group. They’re a little worried, that’s all.” CJ told him outright.

“not at all, i gotta check out a panel an associate is running anyway, see that it’s running smoothly. i did tell the ambassador i would check on all the monsters here, so i may as well.” Sans shrugged.

“C’mon, let’s go on a walk before we check in with everyone.” CJ said the moment Sans steered himself to the other exit. You knew what that meant. He wanted to have a smoke and talk to you. The two of you found yourselves outside as CJ lit a cigarette on the cold, but not overly bitter day.

“What’s up?” You asked him.

“I heard about what happened.” CJ said gruffly.

“What? With Conner?” You asked.

“Yep. He hurt you?” CJ asked.

“No, not really. He just grabbed my arm.” You confessed.

“Let me see it.”

“It’s fine, CJ.” You averted your eyes from his face.

“Let me see it.” he repeated, flicking the spent cigarette in his hand away already and spitting to the side. You didn’t pull away as he gently held the arm Conner had grabbed and he took that as a mutual sign that you would let him look. He lifted the sleeve on your forearm, revealing red marks and whistled. “He left a mark this time. ____, you can’t let him do that.”

“It’s not bad, it’ll go away by tomorrow.” You insisted.

“I know, but what if it gets worse? You’re not a masochist like me. You’re not asking for this.” He insinuated it wasn’t right to you. CJ reached into his pack of cigarettes for another and lit it. “Tell me why Conner’s already saying you’re about ready to cheat on him with a monster, who I assume was that guy you were hanging out with?”

“He- he says that with every new guy I befriend. You know nothing ever happens.” You said, starting to get cold. CJ paused then smiled.

“Remember when he first saw me poking your boobs?” he asked and you both laughed.

“He wouldn’t listen until you told him you were gay!” You chortled. CJ was a big teddy bear and also didn’t have that sassy, higher voice associated with gay men, so it took a little effort to convince Conner without him checking up on it.

“We all know ass is my thing.” he chuckled deeply. “I saw a few cross dressers today that I think I wanna ask out.” he wiggled his eyebrows and you laughed at him. It was a running joke he liked pretty men just because he was gay.

“Oh, my god! CJ!” You pushed at him, laughing.

“So how much do you know about this monster guy already?” he asked, smirking.

“A little. I just asked if I could ask him somethings that aren’t really clear about monsters and he said yeah, as long as he could ask me a few things about humans.” You told him lighting up.

“What’d you ask him so far?” CJ asked.

“Well, did you know their Soul Searcher things are really part of their souls? Most of them can’t move outside a certain perimeter from their monster and only boss monster searchers can move freely.” You relayed, telling him everything that happened and what you learned. CJ thoughtfully listened, seeing your eyes glisten in a spark he hadn’t seen in a while, happy that something got you excited and took your mind off of the problems in your relationship.

“Why don’t we actually check up with everyone now?” CJ suggested, checking his phone when you were done.

“Ok.” You sighed and walked back into the convention center with him. As you passed through one of the large center spaces between the panel rooms and stairs to the lower level, you heard a shrill voice yell above all the low chatter of people.

“Signups for stupid things you humans like to do! Think you can sing? I doubt it, but sign up for the karaoke tomorrow and watch your friends scream like banshees! Think you can dance? Sign up to have us watch you trip over your own feet! AH! HEY! GET AWAY!” As you looked for the voice, you saw a table set aside with a small child with a mop of brown hair and a very animated flower in a flower pot yelling at people to sign up and insulting them as they did, occasionally snapping at them when their fingers got too close.

“What the hell?” CJ muttered looking at table.

“Hey, let’s check it out.” You pulled on his sleeve.

“Sure.” CJ shrugged. He was interested too. As you approached, the kid waved shyly and motioned to the paper.

“Where are your chaperones, kid?” CJ asked. They pointed to the flower.

“I’M the one watching them, bucko so don’t try anything stupid!” the flower yelled at him. “If you want to sign up for something, then sign up! If you don’t, MOVE IT!”

“Jeezus, I only asked a question.” CJ muttered.

“What events are these for?” You asked.

“Didn’t you hear me? Karaoke, dancing whatever the fuck you think a talent is!”

“THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH SMALL FLOWER FRIEND! YOU UPSET THE TINY HUMAN!” Both you and CJ froze at the booming voice behind you that sounded vaguely like a silly villain in an old TV show. You both dared to look behind you and a skeleton towered over you both, a broad chest meeting CJ’s eye level and he was _not_ a small dude. A small dog noise next to him had him crouch down as his searcher reached his ear area on it’s hind legs. He nodded at it and smiled warmly. “IT SEEMS YOU WERE THE ONE MY FORTE BUMPED INTO, HUMAN! I AM TERRIBLY SORRY, BUT WE ARE NOT USED TO SUCH OPEN PLACES… FILLED WITH HUMANS.”

“Wait, what?” CJ questioned since he couldn’t tell who he was talking to.

“It’s ok, really it is. No one got hurt, so there’s no problem.” You said quietly.

“ALLOW ME TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU, HE CAN BE A KLUTZ!”

“Really, it-it’s fine-”

“I KNOW! LET’S GO OUT ON A DATE!” The child started giggling after a big sniffle and started using sign language fast. “WHAT? YOU THINK I’M COMING ON TOO FAST? THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS KNOWS WHEN HE IS MOVING TOO FAST!” His searcher woofed as if in agreement.

“…if Forte was moving too fast, then you don’t know a damn thing…” the flower grumbled.

“Excuse me, where can I get one of those?” CJ asked quietly, pointing at the flower. The child waved their hands in a definite no signal and hugged the flower pot while it started hissing and pushing at them with their face.

“Look… you seem sweet and all, but I can’t really go out on a date.” You told the tall skeleton. “I-I don’t even know your name.” you squeaked.

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND MY FRIENDS HERE ARE THE HUMAN FRISK AND FLOWEY THE FLOWER!” he triumphantly said in your direction with as many syllables as possible. And by that, it meant he proudly looked up, while his searcher puffed out it’s chest, one hand in an “I’ve got it” pose, his cape like scarf flapping in… no wind as if this was a snapshot of a TV series and a camera was following him.

“And now I wish I caught _that_ on my phone.” CJ leaned over and told me in awe.

“…AND I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU CANNOT PARTAKE IN A DATE WITH ME! WHAT IS WRONG? MY MUSCLES?” He asked, flexing his muscle-less arm. CJ started snorting.

“No, I’m seeing someone.” You giggled.

“Papyrus, could just leave me, uh, I mean, _us_ alone?!” Flowey asked, barely keeping the sentence from becoming a screech.

“WELL, THEN I SEE!” he boomed, ignoring the flower, his happy tone coming back. “THEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO ‘HANG-OUT’ SOMETIME?”

“That… sounds interesting.” You chuckled.

Then he squealed like a little girl.

“FRISK! FRISK! I DID IT! I MADE ANOTHER FRIEND!” the kid smiled, signed a few more things, then gave him a double thumbs up. “MAY WE SWITCH PHONE NUMBERS, HUMAN?” he asked you excitedly while the flower groaned. You looked at CJ, then back at Papyrus. You couldn’t tell if this was a ruse or what. He was so genuine sounding.

“Sure.” You handed him your phone and he handed you his. “Um, is there a password?”  

“THERE SHOULDN’T BE…” he told you and handed your phone back to you. You pocketed yours, but puzzlingly there was a keypad on his locked smart phone with the question:

why do skeletons wear jackets?

“AH! I KNOW THIS ANSWER! TO KEEP… WARM.” Papyrus said as he took his phone back and started typing. Frisk started giggling. “WHAT!? WRONG!? I’M SORRY HUMAN.” he apologized. “IT SEEMS SOMEONE GOT A HOLD OF MY PHONE AGAIN, BUT NOT TO WORRY! I WILL SOLVE THIS PUZZLE EVENTUALLY!”

“That’s ok, I have your number. I’ll just send a text with my name on it to tell you whose number it is. I’m ____, by the way and this is one of my friends, CJ.” You smiled and pulled out your phone again.

"HOW VERY SMART OF YOU!" 

“hey, bro, comic told me you were having trouble. oh, hey, ____. cj.” Sans suddenly appeared and nodded at you and your friend. 

“SOMEONE HAS LOCKED MY PHONE WITH A CODE ANSWER THING AGAIN!” Papyrus told him, while texting more answers into the phone.

“what’s the question?” Sans asked, grinning widely. There was something about his smile that was contagious and everyone seemed pick up on it.

“Oh, god, here we go again.” Flowey appeared to smack his head with one of his leaves.

“WHY DO SKELETONS WEAR JACKETS?”

“gee, i dunno. maybe-”

“SANS! NO!”

“it’s because…”

“SANS! I MEAN IT!”

“the wind goes…”

“I WILL MAKE YOU CLEAN YOUR ROOM!”

"right through them.”

Flowey groaned while Frisk burst out laughing, lying on the table pounding their little fist into it as Papyrus stomped his foot loudly, nearly shaking the whole convention center. You and CJ probably would’ve laughed if it weren’t for the fact the building shook.

"gee, bro-"

"DON'T YOU DARE."

"you almost..."

"SANS! STOP IT!"

"brought down the house." he grinned as Papyrus groaned this time and turned back to his phone. Sans double pointed, clicked his teeth and winked, disappearing behind a pillar once Papyrus looked down at his phone again.

“SANS, I SWEAR IF THE ANSWER TO UNLOCKING MY PHONE IS THAT PUN-”

“The smiley trashbag’s gone. Probably looking for more victims.” Flowey sassed. “So are one of you gonna sign up or what?!”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to put in the puns... because puns!


	5. Winding Down For the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a few tidbits that contain some foreshadowing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to see you guys following me! Thank you for waiting!

“The sign-up sheet’s gone.” CJ said as he looked down at the table.

“WHAT!?” Flowey screeched, his face contorting. “THAT NO GOOD SMILEY TRASHBAG! WHEN I GET TO HIM I’LL-” he started watching Frisk who was giggling throughout all of this. “…That is true I can’t prove it was him, but I know it was!”

Then a familiar form lightly touched down on the table, with the paper in her mouth, chirping.

“I KNEW IT!” Flowey yelled.

“NOW, NOW FLOWER FRIEND, SANS AND COMIC HAVE GIVEN IT BACK WITHOUT ONE OF THEIR PRANKS.” Papyrus narrowed his sockets as he said the last part of the sentence suspiciously at the dragon as she nodded and set down the paper. “GOOD!”

“What the hell does trashbag think he has a talent for? Comedy? That’s one of the things that _won’t_ be a laugh.” Flowey asked, looking at the sheet. Looking at it, indeed, Sans had signed up under the anything goes slot.

“Hey, ____, we should get going if we’re done here. They’re telling me the cars are leaving so we can go out for dinner.” CJ said with his phone out. You looked at the sign-ups. Should you? You weren’t _that_ nervous on stage, but usually there was a whole chorus or orchestra along with you.

“Yeah, just one sec.” You decided if you really didn’t want to by tomorrow, you could just cancel anyway, so you took the pen and wrote your name under Sans’s.

“Why?” CJ asked. “I thought you hated people and preferred being unnoticed.” He looked at you with confusion.

“It’s just a talent show, what could go wrong?” You asked. “Besides, I’m not asking you to sit through it. You can if you want, though.” CJ chuckled.

“For you, maybe.” he grinned. Your spirits were high. CJ only remembered you like this the first year in college, when he had become friends with you and before Conner had started alongside you. Right now, you needed the support and he knew it. You had the self-esteem, what you lacked was confidence about it, unlike him. He sighed. People like you were rare and like most of the mutual friends between the two of you, if he’d have been straight, he would’ve asked you out. Of course, being fiercely loyal to your still in high school boyfriend impressed most of them anyway and just made you hotter, along with your naiveness and playful overreactions.

You and CJ managed to get to the pick-up point just as Conner was about to close the van door.

“There’s no more room. Tom and Brony are behind us.” He said grouchily.

“But there’s-” he slammed the sliding door shut in your face as you were pointing out the empty seat by the door. CJ frowned as you got the lately familiar sad look on your face.

“C’mon, that probably wasn’t the best place to talk anyway.” He placed a comforting hand on your shoulder while the two of you waited. You heard a commotion of clacking, chirping and playful growls behind you and turned to see the two skeleton searchers playing by the door, at least you hoped it was playing. The wolf was trying to pounce on the small dragon and grab her out of the air as she lazily glided around in circles around the wolf’s head. “They are kinda neat.” CJ said, following your gaze when you didn’t say anything. A car horn beeped, making the both of you look up and rush out to Tom and Brony.

“Where’d they say the van was going?” Tom asked, at the wheel as you and CJ settled in.

“That plaza across the street from the hotel with all the fast food places.” CJ answered.

“Are they calling it quits for the day?” You asked.

“Looks like it.” CJ confirmed.

“Well, I _do_ need to get up early tomorrow…” you murmured. The short trip through the city consisted of Brony and Tom constantly at each other’s throats over which Yu-Gi-Oh deck was the best for the tournament on Sunday.

“Alright, Nerds… and Brony. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were a married couple!” You broke it up as the debate got heated. Tom burst out laughing, because as usual at cons, he was wearing a dress, while Brony’s face got red.

“You should be flattered, he’s a very pretty girl.” CJ snorted.

“At least I wasn’t the one who hit on him!” he shouted back at us.

“And I was pleasantly surprised.” CJ shot right back. “I technically wasn’t trying!” The three of you burst out laughing again while Brony grumbled and Tom parked his car. You walked across the busy road to meet everyone else, who were patiently waiting to decide which place what group would go to.  After that was decided, you were happy Conner wanted to eat at the same place as you and your friends. As per usual, you were one of the last people to order and he was one of the first, but when you went to sit down with your friends…

“Go sit over there.” He looked at you with a somewhat angry, betrayed look.

“But you’re here and _our_ friends.” You reminded him. His eyes darted down and at his food.

“Come on.” Sandy picked up her tray and grabbed your arm. “You really need to sort things out.”

“I know.” You sighed.

“He’s been saying you’re making plans to leave him, are you?” she asked.

“No! Why would I do that? I love him, I mean, aside from his jealousy problem, things are ok.” You insisted. Sandy looked uncomfortable when that came out. “What?” You asked her.

“Well, he said he went through your phone and that you were texting some guys before to meet up with like two of them.” Conner going through your phone was nothing new to you. You didn’t install a lock because you had nothing to hide and nobody messed with it, so why should you really bother?

“Yeah, I’m working on a group project, so I gotta talk to them and get stuff together.” You explained away. You would never hurt your own boyfriend like that. It would only mean you could never be trusted in love, like many of the girls from the nearby small city. You only had the advantage because you lived in the middle of nowhere and were so naïve it couldn’t be faked.

“Ok.” Sandy’s lips pressed together to hold in the latest thing Conner was calling you behind your back. “Well, just be careful.” She smiled sadly.

“I will. What did you see today?” You asked and instantly Sandy’s eyes lit up.

“Ok, so that monster that curb stomped Shade was _really_ good at Smash. She almost won the tournament! But the controller slipped out of her hands and she lost the last round because of it. She was so mad, she almost smashed the setup with a spear that appeared out of nowhere! She didn’t, but she almost did.” Sandy told you excitedly.

“That’s so cool.” You breathed.

“It was scary! No wonder people are afraid of them.”

“You shouldn’t be though.” Sandy looked surprised at you for saying that.

“Typical ____.” She smiled. “Always seeing the good in everyone. Which reminds me. Did you get that skeleton guy’s number? Conner said you did.”

“ _Actually_ , I did get a skeleton guy’s number, but I think it was the other guy’s brother. CJ’ll tell you.” You laughed. “He asked me out on a date as an apology for his Soul Searcher knocking me down. It felt so unreal!”

“____, you are… _attractive_ to other guys.” She said, using your way of explanation before you started another argument against your own looks.

“No, no. You don’t understand. The poor guy just wanted a friend. He’s... I’m pretty sure he’s even more naïve than me!” You laughed a little more. “But he was sweet and silly about it.”

“Like someone I know?” Sandy asked, looking at you. You both started laughing, but then you caught a glimpse of Conner glowering at you, most likely about you being the happy person you were, as opposed to the pessimistic one he was. “So, that talent show tomorrow?” Sandy asked. “I missed the one for today, but whatever.”

“I’ll be there. So will CJ.” You smiled.

“Did you secretly bring your flute?” Sandy asked suspiciously.

“No!”

“He only watches when you preform.” She sighed and smiled. “What is it with gay men and flutes?”

“In all honesty, I think that’s a CJ thing.” You laughed.

“Ever wonder if he’s secretly not gay and just trying to get close to you?” Sandy asked in a hushed voice.

“He’s had boyfriends, Sandy.” You rolled your eyes. “Besides, if he was bi it wouldn’t make any difference to me at all. If he wants to see me in a dress and attend my concerts, let him. It’s not like he’s masturbating to a picture of me.”

“_-____!” Sandy said, shocked, since you rarely talked like that.

“Anyway, I gotta shoot a skeleton a text. Something about someone locking his phone with a joke, so I didn’t give him my number.” You laughed.

“Don’t you mean as?” she asked.

“Nope. I really suspect the one I was hanging out with.” You snickered. “He was pretty funny.”

“It was _cheesy_ and cheap.” Sandy rolled her eyes.

“That’s what made it funny! You don’t see that anymore, y’know? The classic stuff is fun.” You told her while texting out a message that included your name and a greeting. Under the contact name, which was named “THE GREAT PAPYRUS,” you fiddled with the ringtone and text notification sound. For some reason, you felt the silly sliding whistle noise on your phone was completely relevant for him. Just as it was set, it went off in your hands.

**THE GREAT PAPYRUS-** _THANK YOU FOR YOUR PHONE NUMBER! I ADMIT I WAS GETTING WORRIED, BUT I NEVER DOUBTED YOU! I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HANGING OUT WITH YOU HUMAN! HOW ARE YOU?_

You laughed at the text.

“What?” Sandy asked and you showed her.

“See? This guy is pretty harmless.” You told her.

“Aww… he does seem sweet. Just make sure if he’s trying stuff or getting mean to block him.” Sandy warned you.

“Pffftt! Like that’s gonna happen! I’m more likely to not talk to him all the time and not carry over his number to a new phone because I don’t see him.” You pointed out.

 **You-** _I’m good. thanx for wondering_

 **THE GREAT PAPYRUS-** _GOOD! BECAUSE FORTE NOTICED OUTSIDE THAT YOU LOOKED AS IF YOU WERE GOING TO CRY AND I WILL MAKE SURE ALL FRIENDS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL LAUGH WITH JOY AND BE HAPPY!_

“Ok, _this_ is proof he doesn’t have that many friends. Poor guy.” You frowned, showing Sandy the latest text.

“What if that’s an act?” she asked.

“Come _on_. That can’t be an act. Trust me, I’m a great judge of character!” you puffed out your chest in pride while Sandy shook her head and smiled.

“Hey, guys! Let’s go! Why are you just sitting there? We have free wee-fee to get to!” Lori called to us.

“Just a sec!” you stayed seated for another minute so as not to be that idiot who walked across the road, looking at their phone.

 **You-** _I’ll do my best to be happy. i usually am. really, thank you : )_

You got another text as you walked up the stairs in the hotel.

**THE GREAT PAPYRUS-** _NO, THANK YOU, HUMAN!_

You didn’t notice Conner looking at you suspiciously as you chuckled at the overly enthusiastic messages.       

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get a bad feeling...


	6. Morning Prep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get ready for the day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the randomness of your friends... and other people

You stretched within your sleeping bag underneath the longest table in the hotel room officially designated to the girls. You blinked and frowned for a moment. Why couldn’t you wake up next to Conner? The worst you would do with other people around was cuddle, but every time you checked with the person taking care of the hotel room arrangements, you learned he had moved you into the school assigned girl’s room, instead of the independently bought room your friends had. You slipped out of your sleeping bag in the dark room. You told the rest of the girls you volunteered to sleep on the floor, and that you had prepared for it, so long as you were under the table. It made you feel like you were camping. You looked at your phone that was nearby and turned off the alarm. You didn’t stay up too late last night, but just to make sure, it was there. The other girls said they didn’t mind you getting up earliest; most of them weren’t early risers and neither were you usually, but you were on a mission today.

“Whoa, shiny…” one of the girls said while she groggily got up, noticing you an hour later. By then, the room was bustling with girls getting ready with their own cosplays.

“So what’s that from?” one of the girls asked.

“Nothing. I just wanted to do a thing for the cosplay ball and I can’t think of any character for the dress I have.” You simply stated. “Can I get help with my hair? I have a clip somewhere…” Try as you might, you always sucked doing your own hair for anything other than a simple ponytail, but that was ok. They certainly knew what they were doing and squealed to help you out and you did the same with them. “Wow, you guys look great!” you told them. Rarely had you really hung out with the other girls in the school club, other than Lori and Sandy, but they were pretty cool too.

“Just wait until you step out into the sun!” one of them giggled. You laughed along with them. It was time to see what the others were up to at this point and when everyone was ready to go.

“I’m going to see how the other rooms are doing!” You called out and you noticed everyone else look up to see how the light poured over you as the door swung open. The room was filled with instant gleaming, blue sequin reflections from your one strap dress. The slit on one side of it made you feel sexy as hell and your visible skin was coated with silver metallic body paint.

“Girl, you are gonna rock that ball as _yourself_!” another girl smiled.

“Let’s hope Conner likes it.” you smiled. First thing was first. And closest. “HEY! GUYS ARE YOU UP!?” you pounded on the guy’s assigned door. It was opened immediately and the first thing you heard was a hair dryer going.

“Yeah, Tom’s hogging the bathroom. I need my morning shower to get up, ugh.” CJ opened the door, looking tired. Then he brightened. “You look amazing, ____! Wait right there! I brought something that’ll go perfect!” he said, his excitement not overriding his exhaustion by much as he pulled you in.

“I hope nobody’s naked!” you called out as you were pulled in.

“Like hell that would happen with CJ around. Perv.” Brony muttered. You heard the distinct hiss of an aerosol can behind you.

“What are you doing?” you asked CJ.

“Hold still. It’s just spray on glitter for your hair.” He showed you the can, then went back to spritzing your hair. “I was gonna do something stupid with it, but this is good too. I’ll have some left over.” You could sense CJ’s characteristic evil grin behind you.

“Should I be concerned about that?” Brony squeaked, now fully awake.

“Only if you don’t want to be the little spoon tonight.” CJ told him.

“CJ!” you shouted at him. He meant no harm by it, but damn if that wasn’t creepy. Both of you started laughing.

“Your fucking face! You actually believed me!” CJ smacked his free hand several times on the dresser. After you and CJ calmed down, a bit he motioned you to look into a mirror.

“Whoa…” you breathed. Sure, all the girls did was put up your hair in a sloppy up-do, which was ok, but without you realizing it, CJ made it a little less unstable and now your hair looked stiff and metallic like the rest of you, but in gold. “How did you do that?”

“I have sisters.” CJ raised a brow. “Oh and don’t take out that clip. As long as it stays tight, nothing’s gonna fall, unless you want it to. I mean, I think you’d look better with your hair down.” he shrugged.

“Thanks CJ!”

“Go remind him why he’s dating you.” he chuckled sadly, knowing that was you destination in mind. You darted out of their room and raced to the rest of your friend’s room.

“HEY! YOU GUYS BETTER BE GETTING READY! EVERYONE ELSE IS!” you pounded on their door. It opened.

“Yes, we’re getting ready. That looks amazing!” Sandy smiled. In the background, you could see Shade’s eyes grow wide as he paused in a ninja stance on one leg as if you interrupted some of his bullshit. He was in his tripp pants, which were basically durable black cargo pants with a lot of pockets and chains that covered all the way down to his feet.

“Fight me statue!” he hunched back, squishing his arms into his body and moving his fists in little circles with a stupid overly expressed look. Ordinarily you would too, but with this much makeup on, you didn’t dare, but you laughed anyway.

“Where’s Conner?” you asked.

“UGH! THIS FUCKING WIG!” that answered your question.

“Bathroom.” Your friends pointed there as a short black wig came flying out and hit the opposite wall. He came out pouting.

“Ya know, it’s not gonna just stay on your head if you throw it like that.” you said softly with a smile on your face.

“Can we get some privacy?” he grumbled.

“Don’t worry, everyone else is up if you guys are ready.” you assured them.

“It’s just N00b who has to get up. I don’t know how the hell he slept through all of that.” Lori shrugged. Shade took off a shoe and threw it at him.

“Fight me, ya N00b!”

“Do we have to?” he groaned.

“____’s here.” Sandy told him.

“Oh, right.” he said sleepily. They hastily filed out, going over to the guy’s room.

“So what are you supposed to be?” Conner asked.

“Me, with metallic body paint.” You shrugged. “I don’t have any cosplays that can go into a fancy ballroom unlike you.” You waved a hand at his current costume, which happened to be Lelouch from Code Geass.

“You’re gonna get that all over me and I just bought this cosplay.” He stated, whining. You wanted so badly to correct him and tell him he bought a costume, instead of making a cosplay, but you avoided it, because your instincts told you it would break out into another fight.

“You look nice anyway. Why do you think you need a wig? Your hair _is_ dark enough.” You pointed out.

“Yeah, thanks. What happened yesterday, huh?” Conner demanded.

“Nothing! You don’t wanna do stuff with me, fine. Just let me hang out with some friends I met.” You crossed your arms.

“That guy was a monster. They can brainwash you with their magic. I don’t want you around them.” He told you.

“Well, that’s too bad. I’m pretty sure they can’t brainwash people with magic. That’s just a myth racists like to say, because they aren’t getting into the government and they aren’t trying to take over the world. Do you wanna be labeled racist?” You asked.

“That’s not the point! He’s already sweet talking you so he can do something with you!” Conner shouted, red-faced by now. “I only want you to be careful and make sure you’re protected.”

“ _Do_ something with me? Conner, I’m pretty sure monsters are only interested in their own kind, I mean, we don’t have Soul Searchers like them, so it’s not possible!” You shouted back.

“What?” he looked so confused.

“Those little animal things you see with them sometimes? Those are pieces of their souls. I’m not sure humans and monsters _are_ compatible, so what do you have to worry about?” you asked.

“You don’t know _anything_. That’s why you can’t do anything with monsters.” Conner spat.

“ _Yes, I do!_ I asked him about searchers! I can probably ask more! Arrgh!” You groaned in frustration. “You just don’t get it, do you? I’m not a stupid little blonde girl who stands and looks pretty for you.”

“I know that! Just-just don’t make me look stupid, because you’re hanging out with monsters. Just don’t do it, for me, ok?” he asked softly. When you crossed your arms and didn’t respond, he got angry. “You’re not going to talk to them!” he growled in your face. You trembled a bit, but still didn’t say anything. “Fine be that way! But you better not talk to them or we’re through!" You knew that was a bluff. He would never break up with you. You were his whole world. You marched out and slammed the door, holding in tears.

“HEY!” You heard a door slam by you and through blurry eyes, a tall teal lady from the next room over stomped toward you. “WE’RE _TRYING_ TO GET- …hey, are you ok?” You blinked, suppressing your tears. You swallowed hard and nodded.

“Sorry, I won’t do it again. I’m not in that room.” You apologized quietly, plastering your gaze to the ground.

“Whatever it is, it’s gonna be ok, human.” she said less fiercely. You looked up at her again, and it was a fish lady monster dressed in fancy pirate clothing. “So don’t cry ok!? I have enough crying humans!” she realized she was talking to a complete stranger, and pointed her cutlass at you. “So, are you going to the convention today?” Looking at you get-up, it should’ve been obvious, but maybe she really didn’t know.

“Yeah… I am.” you sighed.

“Aw, man! They should put you in the middle of the dance floor for the ball and you can be the light show! Seriously, you look good!” she exclaimed excitedly. “My girlfriend’ll want a picture! Hey, Alphys! You need to see this!”

“I-I-I’m not r-r-ready!” Spluttered a small voice from the room the other monster had burst out of.

“Sorry, darling, we’re having some technical difficulties here.” another voice called out.

“C’mon! Sterba _said_ you were!” she groaned. “Sorry, but can you wait here?”

“Uh, sure.” You said awkwardly as she darted back in the room. There were some crashes and bangs and the sound of… power tools? Yeah, you were pretty sure it was power tools. You would never forget that sound, after all your dad was a mechanic and your grandpa, a carpenter.

“S-s-s-sorry to make you wait, y-y-you don’t even know us…” The studdery voice happened to belong to a short, yellow, lizard-like monster who had a puffy pink dress on and… cat ears? She carried a fluffy brown cotton-tail in her arms and it hopped out and another long, darker brown form circled it and they nuzzled each other. As they paused doing that, you realized the other one was a mink bouncing around.

“Haven’t you seen searchers before?” the fish lady asked gruffly as if you were intruding and staring too long.

“Only yesterday…” You told her quietly. She was intimidating. Wait something clicked. Was this the monster Sandy was talking about at dinner yesterday? No wonder she told you to be scared, but just as you gathered up enough courage to say more, you heard a strangled squeak come out of the other monster.

“Ohmygosh! You look so good! IsthatfromanythingIhaven’tseen? Whoareyou? Isitagoodanime?” she only paused between questions to get her breath back and squeal more, getting red-faced in the process.

“I-I-I’m not from any anime or really anything… it was just an idea I had to see what people would do…” you told her reluctantly as her face froze and reddened even more as if she was heartbroken and reality shattered in her face.

“Well, you look good anyway!” the fish lady grinned and a camera flashed. You didn’t realize you were posing yet. Oh, well.  “We’ll see ya at the con I bet! Our ride’s here.” she pointed to a limousine that just parked out in the front. You had heard monsters were rich because of their gold, but not _that_ rich to casually hire a limo for transportation. In your awe, they side stepped you and left, along with a large metal box that paid you no attention and fussed about the yellow monster’s wig, ears and dress.

After a minute you chuckled softly to yourself. Of course you looked amazing. If complete strangers found the time to pick up right where your friends left off, it had to be true, right? But what really stung was what Conner said. Not a single complement from him, just how your _dried_ coating of body paint would stain his costume and get all over it.

You jumped as the door to his room opened and he looked equally surprised to see you still standing there in the hallway.

“Look, hun, I'm sorry. I could never do something as stupid to break up with you.” Conner was keeping his distance, but you didn’t care. You were glad he apologized for something.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too, but you have to realize people are people. You can’t cage me like a bird.” You told him and he looked at you funny, but didn’t say anything in response.

“____! You ready to go?” Tom shouted from down the hall.

“Yeah!” You turned to Conner. “Oh, I signed up to do something at a talent show, if you wanna go. See ya when you get there?” You reached out for him, but he backed away.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “But, I don’t want any of that paint on me.”

“It’s _dry_.” You rolled your eyes and the pit in your stomach was back as you left him. You supposed it was because you wanted to spend more time with him alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, ready for what's next?  
> ALSO I HAVE FINALLY MADE THE LEAP AND MADE A LITTLE ART. Check out Sans and Comic at my [ tumblr ](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/patiencecyansoul)


	7. The MTT Talent Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LIGHTS! CAMERAS! ACTION!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to MTT's finest talent show!

You stood as still as you possibly could, among a cluster of indoor statues. Any sudden movements, often freaked out people passing by, making most of them laugh at the minor scare, and some pause to take a picture in a funny pose. You really did pass off as a statue. You sighed, on “break” now, and drank some water carefully so it didn’t dribble down your chin and ruin your paint. Being a statue was hard work when you wanted to scare random people. You jumped as your phone buzzed.

**My Love-** _Hey, hun, meet us by the fountain in the food court at 3._

You checked the time. Shoot! It was almost 3. You probably should be getting ready to go to that talent show. Oh, how time races when you’re having fun scaring the daylights out of people!

**You-** _I can’t. I’m doing that talent show thing. come and watch me ;)_

You continued to text him the room it would be held in.

**My Love-** _You know, just_ once _you should let me do what I want._

**You-** _Baby, I do everything you want. Just come and watch me! it’ll be fun!_

**My Love-** _What, are you gonna sing?_

**You-** _well duh! I didn’t smuggle my flute in, although, maybe I should’ve done that just for fun…_

You didn’t get a response after that, but that was ok. Less to focus on. He was going to watch. You just knew it. Your heart felt like it was on air as you pretty much floated to the talent show room, which was a huge auditorium. Oh. Now your heart felt heavy as it thudded apprehensively in your chest, grounded again. You hadn’t expected such a big place, you’d feel tiny on the stage, which was meant for big things, like an orchestra. You took a deep breath. You had this. Just don’t choke, right? You realized that was easier said than done.

“Alright, people! Check off your names from before to tell us you’re here!” shouted a disgruntled monster cat, who had a really bored gaze.

“That’s it, Burgerpants, with more enthusiasm!” You recognized the box from earlier this morning. Was he a monster or what? A robot? You watched them as you went up to check off your name.

“Frisk’s asking if they can check off Sans’s name, Mettaton. They gotta text saying he's gonna be late, because he’s sleeping. Wait, really? Then how is he texting you?!” You looked over to recognize the flower and the kid from yesterday. The kid shrugged and hand signaled back. “Sleep texting? Jeez! That guy is lazy and good for nothing!”

“Now, now, Flowey dear, we all know Sans always shows up at the most… inopportune times. If he doesn’t show up before…” Mettaton looked at the sheet. “____! Darling, you need to identify yourself!”

“Here!” You waved.

“You look positively radiant, dear, but if a short skeleton monster doesn’t make it to back stage by the time you’re about to go on, the show must go on, do I make myself clear?” Mettaton asked while putting a little bit of flair into his words. You weren’t sure how this box was fabulous, but you just had that feeling he was. The small child gave him a thumbs-up as they looked at their phone and pressed buttons slowly with one hand.

“Uh, sure.” You said shyly.

“Now! Everyone! Come, gather! I am Mettaton! Your host and one of the judges here in this open mic talent show!” he waved his arms as if that was supposed to impress everybody. “Ahem! I SAID-” an applause track went off from backstage. “Much better! Now, you’ve had a day to prepare yourselves and bring your necessary equipment… I hope. I want you all to line up on stage, so my assistant can ask you what you’re doing and prepare for it if you need anything else.” The cat monster poked his head from backstage.

“Ok! Pay attention! My name is Burgerpants!” You couldn’t help it, you giggled along with the rest of the con goers that thought it was funny. “What’s so funny about a monster name, huh?” he glared at us as something chittered in a shirt pocket at us. He had been bullied before, you instantly picked up, by how quickly he got defensive. You no longer thought it was funny.

“I’m sorry.” You apologized to him. “I just thought it was a funny nickname.” His perpetual scowl shifted to an outrageous smile. “In fact, where I work, someone calls me ‘The Chicken Whisperer,’ because I cook chicken and I get to stab it.” You went on.

“G-girl…” he spluttered as his smile turned to something uncomfortable. His hands were visibly twitching. “…y-you’re a _real_ girl?”

“Burgerpants! Are you done getting our acts together?” Mettaton asked from the foldout table he was helping Frisk was set up.

“No, sir!” he jumped and his voice cracked. “Where’s your name and what’s your act?” he asked, stiffening his lower lip.

“I’m right after Sans.” You told him. “And I’m singing Counting Stars, by One Republic.”

“O-ok.” Burgerpants almost looked like he was going to melt. You grimaced. Better to break his heart before he even asked.

“And before you ask, I _do_ have a boyfriend. I just don’t like it when people get made fun of things they can’t control.” You explained. He froze and walked backstage.

“AAARRRGHHH! I’M A CHUMP!” It sounded like he hit something and you winced, along with everyone else. The clipboard he had slid across the stage and you picked it up.

“Ok, it says: “New plan. Everyone just write what they’re doing.”” You looked at Mettaton, who somehow as a box looked stunned at the outburst. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, darling. You let him down gently. More than I thought you would…” he muttered. “Pass on the clipboard! I will have a talk with my _assistant_.” He hissed. How did robots hiss exactly? You almost pictured him blowing literal steam, because robots could do that, right? In any case, Mettaton did not, in fact, blow out steam, but one thing was for sure: he was pissed as he wheeled to the dark corner Burgerpants had crawled into. You felt a tug on your dress and little hands waved to get your attention.

“Frisk, was it?” You asked. They smiled and nodded, holding up a dry erase board, giggling.

dont wory about Burgerpantz I think he is gurl crazy   

You laughed too and they wiped the board clean with their sleeve, eagerly writing more.

u r pretty! counting stars is one of my fav songs 2! ask snas to stay he like it 2

“Frisk! What’s so funny!?” Flowey demanded from the table as we kept giggling, but then quickly got busy with what looked like a boxy, robotic bird, screaming at it to watch where it went.

Flowy is clingy he not want me hurt but is best friend

Frisk rolled what you could see of their eyes and chuckled. This seemed to make some sense to you, because you had observed yesterday that Frisk was the only person Flowey had not tried to bite. The child wiped the board again and you watched questioningly, before they showed you.

who were you y-day? look fam. you see skelly or MTT?

You looked at the board for well over thirty seconds, trying to decipher the handwriting. Frisk sighed in annoyance for your delay of words.

“If you wrote all the words, I might be able to understand sooner. Yesterday, I was Dani Phantom, the girl version.” You told them and Frisk’s eyes lit up.

You saw both skele bros!                

“Yeah, I did. I think Sans made my boyfriend angry earlier.” You frowned.

Snas is jus funny. he not try make anyone mad.

“I know. I’m not mad at him. He made me smile.” You quickly clarified.

Mor like trigger

Frisk giggled and you laughed at that.

“Alright! I suppose I have to do EVERYTHING around here! But we must admit, I am a qualified star!” Mettaton dramatically waved his arms. You didn’t question him.  Now you _knew_ for a fact this robot was much more glamorous than you were and you were covered in glitter. “When I call your name, line up and that will your order of which you will be preforming today!” If he could do the can-can, that was all you were imagining he would be doing as he wheeled across the stage.

When everyone was all lined up, there was still a space in between you and the girl going before you. You sighed wondering if the skeletal monster you met yesterday was going to show up at all. Both he and his brother seemed like nice guys and you’d be damned if you were going to let Conner get in between you making unique friends again.

 “Now! All of you! You have exactly forty minutes to spread the word a fabulous show is going to be judged by me, MTT live! If enough people attend, I will have a bigger surprise for all of you, than say if two people attend! Spread these posters and be back at four thirty!” Mettaton was so enthusiastic. You raised your hand. “Yes! You, fabulous silver girl!”

“What happened to Burgerpants?” You asked.

“He’s… recovering and should be fine to handle all props I have decided to include for each of your stents on stage!” He exclaimed. Murmuring erupted from everyone.

“Props?”

“But-”

“People, people! Calm down! For those of you singing, it’s mostly lighting, for the rest, go along with it and show us just how talented you are!” You couldn’t believe it when Mettaton got applause over that, but to be fair, most of these people were “starving artists,” hoping they could get discovered for their talents, the other few just wanted to have fun. You yourself just wanted to prove you wouldn’t choke alone on stage.

You felt… Determined.

You quickly grabbed a stack of papers and high-tailed it out of the auditorium after you confirmed your precious things would be safe backstage. First stop, that fountain to see if your friends and boyfriend were still there. Papers you lost flew behind you as you zoomed through a crowd, only feeling your throat close slightly because you were on a mission. For some reason, adrenaline coursed through your veins in your excitement and that made your feet lighter as well as everything slow. Every gap and escape was clearly seen through the crowds, so it didn’t worry you too much. Disappointment hit you when you didn’t see any recognizable faces at the fountain, then you had an idea.

Fortune favored the bold.

You sat your butt on the up-going escalator rail and hung your arm over the gap, past the down-going one’s rail with the pink papers in your hands. As you expected, people readily grabbed them. At the top, you circled over to the balcony where there were no stairs, and dropped the rest on unsuspecting heads. Maybe security would be called. You didn’t know, you just kinda walked away like you saw nothing, laughing.

You pulled your phone out of your bra to check the time. After all of that, you had fifteen minutes to get back at the appointed time Mettaton wanted everyone back. Huh. You frowned. No new messages either. You had at least expected Conner to text you. Oh well. He’d be there.

“Alright! Lights! Curtains! Let’s go! Let in the masses, Burgerpants!” Mettaton yelled, not two seconds before you got there. Your heart thudded in renewed anticipation. You were really going to sing solo.

Oh, boy. There was just one teensy problem. You had to wait and with all that adrenaline you used to pump yourself up for this, you were antsy. You needed to _do_ something. Make a reoccurring noise, keep your hands busy, something! You settled for wringing them.

You could do this. You were patient. You wondered if your friends would make it. CJ would. He always went when he said he would. Everyone else knew, so what were you missing? You stared at your phone screen, thinking you had missed something. Your eyes widened in realization.

Papyrus! You wondered if he knew Sans was supposed to be ahead of you in performance, so you shot him a text. He replied boisterously.

**THE GREAT PAPYRUS-** _I WAS NOT AWARE SANS WAS DOING_ ANYTHING! _I SUPPOSE I COULD SUPPORT HIM! I DO NOT PROMISE TO STAY THE ENTIRE TIME IF HE DOES HIS ANNOYINGLY COINCIDENTAL PUNS, BUT I WILL COME BACK TO SEE YOU SING, HUMAN!_

You smiled.

**You-** _Aw! You don’t have to but thats so sweet of you!_

**THE GREAT PAPYRUS-** _ISN’T THAT WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR? BESIDES! YOU HAVE MET METTATON! DID YOU KNOW I AM HIS #1 FAN?_

**You-** _naw! You? I didnt take it you followed celeberties lol_

**THE GREAT PAPYRUS-** _THE GREAT PAPYRUS ONLY FOLLOWS METTATON! AND I HOPE YOU MEAN CELEBRITIES._

**You-** _yeah, sorry I turned my phone’s auto correct off. it kept doing all of these weird things and wouldn’t let me type what I wanted_

You had lost track of time as you continued texting Papyrus, telling each other stories, so much so, you didn’t even notice Sans take his place in front of you without even realizing it was you. 

“So, it looks like Frisk took the liberty of giving you something to do, see?” the frazzled cat showed Sans the clipboard and what was written under it.

“i woulda thought the kid would keep singing out of this-” he stopped as Comic started whispering towards his ear hole. “but, oh well. i guess comic doesn’t want to disappoint them." Sans shrugged. 

“NEXT!” the shrill cry of Flowey was heard.

“welp. gotta go. i’ll cue ya.”

“Whatever.” Burgerpants mumbled.

You looked up as soon as Papyrus told you Sans was going on and thought it was impolite to text if he wanted to pay attention.

“Am I up next?” You whispered to Burgerpants.

“Sans showed up, so yeah.” He sighed, then pressed a button on the sound board.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSI15w3DbQs)  

_“lately i’ve been, i've been losing sleep_

_dreamin’ about the things that we could be…”_

Your mouth dropped open.

“Dude! That’s _my_ song I was supposed to sing!” you whisper-shouted at him.

“Shit! Uh… pick a new one?” he asked awkwardly. You sighed, now on another mission as you whipped out your tiny little outdated ipod. Alright five hundred plus songs. Time to shuffle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well shit. I wonder what Reader is going to do after Burgerpant's mess up. I wonder what Mettaton is going to do...


	8. Woos and Whoas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some _singin'!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy your chapter my dear readers!

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSI15w3DbQs)

_“lately i've been, i've been losing sleep_

_dreamin’ about the things that we could be_

_but, baby i've been, i've been prayin' hard_

_said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

_yeah, we'll be counting stars…”_

Sans couldn’t believe he was doing this, but Comic convinced him. And what his soul wanted… hell if he knew. It was all he could do to keep his back to the audience before they realized he actually was a monster. That would knock ‘em dead, right? He started tapping his foot.

“loosen up. you’re really rigid.” Comic whispered.

_“i see this life like a swingin' vine,_

_swing my heart across the line…”_

His free hand shot out to create a line for Comic to launch herself off his arm and he used the momentum to smoothly take a one-eighty. He realized his smile was strained like it always was on stage, but it wasn’t something the untrained eye could see. At least they couldn’t tell just how deadlocked his jaw was.

_“in my face is flashin' signs,_

_seek it out and ye shall find_

_old, but i'm not that old_

_young, but i'm not that bold_

_i don't think the world is sold_

_i'm jus' doing what we're told_

_i-i-i-i feel somethin' so right_

_doing the wrong thing_

_and i-i-i-i feel somethin' so wrong_

_doing the right thing_

_i couldn’t lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie_

_everything that kills me makes me feel alive.”_

Not a hitch was made. This song was easy to copy for Sans, he even kept going after Comic landed on him again. There was one thing that bothered him, something on the edge of his mind.

_“lately i've been, i've been losing sleep_

_dreamin' about the things that we could be_

_but, baby i've been, i've been prayin' hard_

_said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars…”_

The mic was jerked over to Comic’s mouth from his hand as her tail vertebra pulled his hand. His eyes widened as she started to sing.

_“lately i've been, i've been losing sleep_

_dreaming about the things that we could be_

_but, baby i've been, i've been praying hard_

_said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars_

_ye-e-yeah…”_

He might not have actually continued if her tail hadn’t jolted him, snapping behind him, but if she was going to give her all, he might as well too. For the first time since going on stage, he relaxed and opened his mouth to actually sing.

_“i feel her love_

_and i feel it burn_

_down this river, every turn_

_hope is our four-letter word_

_make that money, watch it burn_

_old, but i'm not that old_

_young, but i'm not that bold_

_i don't think the world is sold_

_i'm just doing what we're told_

_and i-i-i-i feel something so wrong_

_doing the right thing_

_i couldn’t lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie…”_

He held the mic for Comic again as she jumped into his arms again and spread her wings, magic shimmering off them.

_“everything that drowns me_

_makes me wanna fly!”_

Sans picked up right where she left off in the slight overlap, launching Comic again with a slight amount of force. He was really giving this song his all now. He had formed a tongue to annunciate over his now visible fangs most monsters had to make sure he didn’t sing with a lisp. He was no longer nervous, just lost in the music.  

_“lately i've been, i've been losing sleep_

_dreaming about the things that we could be_

_but baby, i've been, i've been praying hard_

_said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

_lately i've been, i've been losing sleep_

_dreaming about the things that we could be_

_but, baby i've been, i've been praying hard_

_said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars…”_

Sans had begun dancing in place a little bit, not really moving around, but still dancing. By then he had gotten your attention and you stared curiously at him from backstage as you realized there were two voices singing at once.

_“oh… take that money watch it burn,_

_sing to river the lessons i learned…”_

You had picked your song, by then, something you really felt like singing and you eagerly watched Sans, wondering were the second light female voice came from.

When Sans eventually stopped repeating lyrics, he chose one of the laziest poses. He had dropped to one knee, with his right hand in the air, while his searcher landed on his shoulder.

“Holy shit. You didn’t tell a crappy joke.” Flowey said after a round of applause. He sounded shocked.

“'m already on one knee. what else do ya want, weed?” Sans asked with an edge in his voice.

“Honestly, Sanzy, darling, you could use a little more exercise if you’re that winded, but I do have to say, that was just _screen worthy_!” Mettaton playfully placed.

“i dunno 'bout you sardine can, but _i_ don’t have lungs. i only did it for-” contrary to what he just said, he let out a huge sigh with a “whew” as he panted heavily. “for frisk.” There was a slight pause as Frisk frown and signed to him. “what? how was it supposed to be the next song?”

“It was?” Mettaton asked. “What will the next person ever do now that you stole their song?” he gasped. What crowd was there booed at Sans. You felt bad for him.

“I fixed it!” Burgerpants yelled as he ran from backstage to hand Mettaton a paper.

“It seems she is resourceful! Extra points to ____ for thinking on the whimsun!” Mettaton announced.

“And-and you’re disqualified!” Flowey added.

“from what? the kid already gave me two thumbs up. i just don’t care what you think.” Sans responded, bored.

“SCREW YOU!” Flowey spluttered. “NEXT!”

“i’d rather not drive you into a wall… **yet.** ” You weren’t sure if that was a joke or a threat, but he passed you, grumbling.

“Don’t feel too bad. It sounds like he’s stuck up.” You told him. Sans looked up, a flicker of recognition seemed to hit him at the sound of your voice. “It’s ____, remember? From yesterday? Dani Phantom?”

“yeah, good luck out there.” He said quietly to you as you smiled. How could you just be so unrecognizable like that? It was almost like you didn’t want recognition from yesterday’s cosplay. “you look pretty snazzy.” His grin grew bigger.

“Hey don’t dawdle!” Burgerpants said while putting microphone in one hand and a paw onto your back, gently steering you toward the stage.

“Thanks!” you waved before going out on stage. You exhaled as you looked out into the audience. You instantly saw Papyrus, even though the lights were dimmed. You guessed he just stood out. Your heart hammered as the music started. 

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yraDbg3pRC0)

_“Way, way down in a hole,_

_There’s no feeling…_

_’Cause when you’re so far beneath the floor,_

_Everything’s a ceiling…_

_We dug it down as deep as we could,_

_Just like we planned it,_

_But when you climbed out,_

_You pulled out the ladder and it left me stranded.”_

You looked down, instantly feeling the words, not just singing them. You looked out with mournful eyes.

_“So what am I supposed do…?_

_I’m calling out to you…_

_But you’re miles away, it’s true…_

_I’m digging with someone new.”_

You had looked out into the audience with a small smile and let go of your arm that you realized you were clenching against your body. A blue light shone from above on you and instantly the room was filled with disco ball like gleams.

_“So far down in this hole_

_There’s little daylight_

_I feel the shards of the midday sun_

_And then it’s black as midnight_

_The only stars I see in the sky_

_Well, they don’t move me_

_‘Cause they’ve all been dead for millions of years_

_They’re just light diffusing.”_

You shook your head in dismissal while looking sad. It felt real to you, like a knife cutting your heart as if it was warm butter.

_“And the constellations move…!_

_And the brightest point is full…_

_But every telescope you see_

_Is pointed at only you.”_

You shook your dress rhythmically as you swayed, making the dazzles float every which way. Raising you voice to the next lyrics made you feel slightly better. Your eyes gleamed. That’s right, you could take care of yourself.

_“And I’ve got nowhere to go_

_Except further below_

_So I keep digging_

_And it gets darker every day_

_But I see no other way_

_Than just committing_

_And if the earth is as round as they say_

_Then I won’t find another place_

_From where I break back through_

_That’s farther away from you_

_That’s farther away from you…”_

You danced slowly to the small interlude, your left leg slipping out the side slit of the dress. You pursed your lips, ready for the next lyrics, and sang them full force.

_“So what am I supposed do…?_

_I’m calling out to you…_

_But you’re miles away, it’s true…_

_I’m digging with someone new._

_So what am I supposed do…?_

_I’m calling out to you…_

_But you’re miles away, it’s true…_

_I’m digging with someone new…._

_I’m digging with someone new…_

_I’m digging with someone new…”_

Immediately, when the lights went back up, there was clapping on and off stage. A couple people you recognized called your name as they cheered and stood. And you. You felt sick to your stomach. You wanted to cry. You couldn’t find Conner. You had to prove that wouldn’t mess up on stage to him, that you looked-

Magnificent! 10/10!

You caught Frisk’s whiteboard held up high. Mettaton looked as if he was computing at a rapid speed and Flowey’s mouth was wide open. Frisk nudged Flowey, but he didn’t move. They waved a hand in front of Mettaton’s monitor, but all that happened was steam leaking out of the corners of his… head? You couldn’t tell by this point. Maybe you should catch up with Sans later if you could find him or ask Papyrus or something. You were starting to feel a little self-conscious as all of your judges stayed silent.

Alphys! Where u b!?

Frisk had hopped off their chair and held up the white board while moving to the middle of the stage, where you were. They shielded their eyes from the lights to peer out and so did you. It seemed like all of the monsters that attended were speechless. Well, almost.

“DR. ALPHYS! YOU’RE BEING CALLED ON STAGE!” Papyrus boomed at a puffy pink dress you recognized. It looked like she was having a difficult time getting out of the rows of seats. Frisk hopped down from the stage and ran over to help her.

“You BETTER not be FLIRTING with my GIRLFRIEND, squirt!”

“Now, now, Frisk, you devilish tease, you know Dr. Alphys is taken!” It looked like Mettaton had rebooted. “I believe, I’ll be alright. I just got a tad emotional. Now, darling that was beautiful in every sense of the word! It made me want to _cry!_ The feeling behind the words you sang were so reaching! Why, it reminds me of my time in the Underground, sadly. Tell me, I’m curious to know, what does it remind you of?” the seductive smile was more heard from the purr of his voice.

“I-I just wanted to sing…” You said quietly. In the audience, Sans grimaced at your answer. There was power behind the words that said you were left behind and he knew it. Something made them flow and it didn’t seem like a positive thing. You looked like you were starting to melt under the light. He sighed. He was already the bad guy on stage, he might as well do something about it.

“Nonsense! There _must_ be a story!” Mettaton continued. You were about to open your mouth, but then-

“hey, why’d the tin can robot get so mad?” You were stunned as Sans appeared out of nowhere and smoothly shooed you away to your relief. “somebody kept pushin’ all of his buttons.” There were a few tense laughs from some of the human crowd, but more groans, and most of all the monsters did too.

“SANS! YOUR TURN IS OVER!” Papyrus groaned.

“Get off the stage, Trashbag!” Flowey yelled at him.

“which flower talks the most?” Ok, now he really wasn’t trying to be funny, you realized, he was trying to tick off the two judges who basically threw him off stage.  “tulips, and boy, you must be one of those.”

“AARRRGHH! FRISK THROW ME AT HIM!” Flowey feebly tried to lunge at him as the groans multiplied. In response, Frisk hugged his flower pot, which started up the hissing and pushing at them with his face to get off again.

You had high-tailed it out of there. You had begun to sweat and your paint glistened. You quickly made your way outside to cool down with an immediate frozen February gust. It didn’t take long to stiffen, but your thick skin bolstered by the current winter back home gave out, so you went back in to look at the damage. That felt good. You sighed as you looked into the mirror. The body paint was beginning to crack, but then you smiled. It looked cool. Almost as if you were coming out of your shell.     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Counting Stars by One Republic  
> Everything's a Ceiling by Death Cab For Cutie


	9. Winner Winner!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the huge delay, but this fic and one other are the only ones I've been whittling at for the last month and I've had to put two others on hiatus because school and personal projects take priority right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have reached the cosplay ball! Well... right before anyway...

You felt someone poke your shoulder as you intently focused on your phone, your eyes waiting for the text message. You looked up and it was Frisk, balancing your bag, their whiteboard and some papers. They put everything down, before writing on the whiteboard again.

Why you run away?

“I wasn’t comfortable answering those questions. Don’t worry. Sometimes, I get a little stage-fright.” You told them.

MTT calling you Cinderella. He want you sign rls papers

“RLS papers?” You questioned. The kid rolled their eyes and wiped the board to write a single word.

release

“Why?” You asked.

you r gonna be on TV! He look for talent you are talent he says

“Really? I’m not _that_ good.”

Ye! You are! Did ya c the monsters?

“Um, well, kinda.”

If you go to the ball 2nite, MTT has cousin there

They wiped the board again as you raised your brows and they sloppily, but excitedly wrote the rest of what they wanted to say.

His name Napstablook he is ghosty and has papers plz sign for MTT?

“I dunno…” you rubbed your opposite arm nervously. Then they handed you some fancy pink paper in cursive. You had to read it slowly to decipher it, but being able to read your grandparents and older relative’s handwriting definitely paid off in times like these.

_“Dear Cinderella,_

_I am sorry have scared you away. I realize now that your make-up was unstable and you were having a hard time answering further questions. You just did so brilliantly that I just had to know more about you. If you didn’t know, as many of you probably did not, this show was filmed and I had asked at the conclusion of it for everyone except you to sign release papers to allow them to appear in an upcoming show. I would very much appreciate it if you would meet with my cousin in the ballroom while they are setting up for the dance tonight and sign the papers, say around five? The bodyguard is expecting you to tell him you’re Cinderella to get in. I am sure you have a schedule and can find the ballroom location under the Cosplay Ball at the six o’clock section of it._

_Sincerely, with great enthusiasm_

_Mettaton”_

“Fancy.” You sighed.

You can read that?

Frisk asked you.

“Yeah, I have a lot of older relatives. They like to send me cards.” You chuckled. You looked at your phone. It was by now fifteen minutes past five. “I guess I’m late.” your shoulders deflated.

It’s ok! just go!

“Ok.” you groaned as you got up.

I gotta go check on the tems ok?

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for telling me about this.” They hopped off excitedly after giving you a toothy smile and a thumbs up.

You had already looked up the room for the ballroom, because you were going to meet Conner and Tom there. You wanted to get there quickly, because you hated being late, even if you got the letter late.

You looked up at the intimidating bodyguards trying to find words as they looked at you oddly. One was a human, and the other was a _really_ tall blue monster that had flowing black hair, red eyes cat eyes, and short, but straight deer antlers. His feet were hooved and his legs were like the back ones typically seen on most animals, which was why he was so tall. A tail swept behind him as he and his owl searcher on his shoulder respectfully watched you with curiosity.

“Um, uh…” you waved Mettaton’s letter. “Mettaton calls me… Cinderella?”

“Oh, yeah.” The blue monster looked at his smaller counterpart. “She’s the human Mettaton was talking about for the papers. Go on in.” he told you and the other human. They let you pass.

Inside the room, chairs were being set up by various people and a turn table on the small stage. A band of monsters was softly warming up and you swayed at their near perfect melody while each instrument clearly made up their own solo.

“oh, um, hello. i don’t want to be mean, but you’re not supposed to be back here right now…” a small deflated voice told you. You didn’t know what to expect when you turned to see a ghost. Maybe something… more humanoid, not a nearly shapeless form that looked like it was under a bedsheet. Although he was transparent and floating. What did you know? You shrugged off the disappointed feeling.

“Mettaton sent me here.” you told him.

“oh… the papers, right? um, congratulations.” He told you and kinda motioned you over to a table on the stage where the band took notice of you and stopped playing.

“Congratulations?” You asked.

“didn’t you know? mettaton wanted to pick someone that live at grillby’s and i could possibly work with for a show.” He motioned to the band as he said that. “he said you were pretty close to perfect…” the ghost trailed off. “…if you agree that is…” he added. The brown fire monster, who seemed to be the leader of the band had walked over to the table, a coffee cup in hand and a saxophone slung across his shoulder.

“So you’re the Cinderella we’ve been hearing about.” he said smoothly. His voice was deeper than you expected it to be. You also wondered how he was drinking coffee.

“… my name is ____, so you guys know…” You said, intimidated. The fire monster laughed.

“We kinda figured it wasn’t Cinderella. Mettz is pretty dramatic.” He smiled. “Once you get past that, it’s pretty good. Name’s Leo.” He turned to the ghost. “Nap, we gotta problem. Before we even got here our trumpet player had an emergency and couldn’t make it. Now that ain’t a problem for most of what we got planned, but it is for a few songs. We both know where our ‘bone player went. He could stand in, but I doubt he wants to play.”

“…we can’t force sans to play in the band for us…” the ghost sighed.

“Or can you?” You perked up at the sound of his name. He seemed to be infamous among the monsters. They looked at you curiously. “I met him.” You said quietly. “But this _is_ a cosplay ball… just tell him he can’t come in until he has like a tuxedo or something similar to what you guys are wearing, if you have a trombone, that is.” You pointed out. You knew he wasn’t wearing a real one while the he was on stage. Just a shirt that had a tux printed on it with a blue jacket thrown over it.

“Hey! Nick! Y’here that?” Leo yelled toward the door.

“I’m not deaf!” The blue monster outside shouted back, poking his head in. His lips curled into a smile, revealing sharp teeth. “Basically troll Sans.” he snickered. “You got it, boss.”

“Do all monsters know each other?” you wondered out loud.

“Not all of us, but a couple monsters like Sans, Undyne, Dr. Alphys, and the King and Queen know most, if not all of us because they’ve seen everyone at one time or another.” Leo rattled off a few names. “But that was pretty smart.” You then noticed the bearded dragon on his shoulder nod. It practically blended in with him.

“Cinderella, darling! You’re here! Blooky, darling, is she going to sign the papers?” A familiar voice said. You were wordless at looking at the more humanoid robot monster. He had this pink, black and silver color scheme going on and looked very feminine.

“…who are you?” you asked.

“Ah, yes, that’s right! You didn’t get to see the grand finale!” his lips pursed as he posed dramatically, the heart on him pulsing with pink light.

“Mettaton?” You questioned.

“Yes, darling! I’m so glad you’re clever. Now these are release forms saying that I can use your likeness for the episode.” You nodded as you signed them with a quiet ok. “And this a contract, if you wish to appear on my show with me as a host! I would recommend you read it and think about it. My number is on there if you would like to respond at a later time.” Mettaton smiled as you were already going to town with the fine-print at the prospect.

While still reading, you sat down at the edge of the stage and Leo sat next to you, calmly waiting if you had questions. Which, you did.

“Why is this so many pages?” you said going through a magical accidents clause.

“Well, not too many humans understand monster-caused accidents or even want to. There’s a bit of legal stuff to get over, like magic in general and the Soul Searchers. I don’t think most humans know what to make of all of that. Do you play anything by chance?” Leo asked.

“Flute, open-holed flute. What is this mandatory battle thing?” You asked.

“Oh, right. You’ll be working with a lot of monsters for a little bit. Sometimes a battle starts and they don’t even mean it. I mean, they do that moment, but that’s when you talk ‘em down. It’s hard to explain, but it’s so inexperienced humans know what to do in case of that kind of situation. Don’t worry. You’ll be with Mettaton. He won’t try to kill you.” Leo told you.

“This is all kinda new to me…” You trailed off as you became focused on the words on the page again. It turned out Mettaton was willing to pay you a lot of prize money if you appeared on the show and you knew you needed all you could get. You were ready to jump at the offer. They were just monsters, people like you, right?

“Where are these shows recorded?” you asked Mettaton.

“Why, we’re looking for a new place to set up that would be a little more… monster friendly.” Mettaton told you uncomfortably. “But currently, we’re set up in Colorado. Would you happen to know anywhere?”

“Well…” You paused trying to think. California, even though the state was pretty liberal almost barred monsters from working professionally in Hollywood right off the bat. That was your first logical choice, even if you hadn’t ever been there. Florida was too unpredictable with hurricane season and the monster undoubtedly would be sold land right in the path of most of them. In fact, there were only a few states that didn’t have laws excluding monsters from most jobs. Then you remembered.

“New York hasn’t even done anything in preparation for monsters taking jobs there. I’m sure you could just go in and buy an office building or something. There are parts and small towns that are pretty sleepy, but then there’s Albany and NYC to give you the city bustle and then there’s a ton of lakes. I can’t vouch for the people accepting you right away, but they’re alright.”

“Oh? Really? Are you a local?” Mettaton asked.

“As a matter of fact… yes. I’ve been all over New York. They need businesses and jobs and I don’t think any of the officials care where they come from.” You shrugged.

“Where do you live now?” Mettaton asked.

“…around Niagara Falls and Buffalo. They’re smaller cities than Albany and New York City.” You told him.

“I’ll have to look into the places you gave me. As you can see, you have a paid for ticket, here.” he pointed to one clause. “And a paid hotel for a week or so for your trouble.”

“Can I hold onto these and talk to my family about it?” You asked.

“Of course, darling! Feel free to call me about _anything_. That is my personal number and I don’t give it to just anybody.” He told you enthusiastically as you folded the papers carefully in your bag.

“Thank you.” You said quietly and smiled. “Is there anything else?” You asked timidly.

“No, not at all. I look forward to seeing you here at the ball and don’t forget to support Live At Grillby’s and Napstablook.” Mettaton swept his robotic arm at them and Napstablook, who you were sure by this point was the ghost. He blushed and Leo smiled, sliding his sunglasses down his… not nose but face. How did his glasses stay up in the first place? “Now go enjoy yourself, this is undoubtedly the boring part of the ball.” Mettaton steered you toward the door.

You sighed after you left and looked back at your phone. Maybe you should text him first.

 **You-** _Hey hun didnt see you at the show_

 **My Love-** _duh. I told you I was busy_

 **You-** _you didn’t say you were busy… just to meet_

 **My Love-** _yeah I did you just dont listen dont txt me anymore im doing a game see you in a half hr_

 **You-** _ugh whatever._

Throughout this exchange, your stomach dropped and your throat tightened. What made him so mad at you? You had made up this morning. You settled in another dark corner fighting frustrating tears yet again.

"hey, are ya cold or something?” You jumped. You hadn’t heard the familiar stranger approach, even with your back against two walls. You must have been spacing out. Really badly.  

“What? No, why?” You asked quickly and defensively.

“’cause. corners are ninety degrees.” That caught you off guard and after a tense few seconds, you burst out laughing, the heavy feeling of abandonment lifting off you. The skeleton sat next to you again, leaning back onto the wall, patiently, but also a friendly distance away. As your laughing died down, you gave him a look.

“Really?” You raised an eyebrow.

“what? it was acute joke.” He snickered. You burst back into a laugh attack. He didn’t know how much you needed that.

“So… about what happened at the talent show…” you pressed your lips together, wishing your hair was down for once to twirl it. It was a huge habit of yours, but it helped you think and calmed any anxiety you had.

“don’t worry about it. it wasn’t fair to be put on the spot like that and sorry about taking your song.” Sans waved it off. Comic suddenly climbed his chest and curled around his neck vertebrae and chirped while he rubbed her head with his fingers lovingly.

“That’s ok. You didn’t know.” His answer prompted you to remember his performance. “Who was singing with you anyway?” Sans’s face tinged the lightest of blues as Comic took notice of you.

“i talk too.” She puffed a cloud of smoke from her nostrils fueled by your ignorance. You jumped back yet again, but then leaned closer to her. You didn’t even realize she was a _she_ , but then again she was skeletal.

“I’m sorry. I guess you heard this already, but I know next to nothing about monsters and their searchers.” You reasoned with her as she rolled into Sans’s lap.

“be nice, comic.” Sans told her. He was getting nervous at how fast she was getting comfortable around someone he had met just yesterday. Even if you were pretty nice and even receptive to talk in a bad mood.

“only when she doesn’t confuse me.” she rolled her eyes.

“How-?”

“it’s a soul thing. your soul isn’t projecting a searcher, so it’s closed, but all human souls are closed, hence no searchers.” She told you and held her tail in front of Sans’s mouth after interrupting him, about to interrupt you. His cheeks were starting to dust blue in frustration, but she didn’t let up to his dismay. When did this love-hate relationship between him and his soul happen? Until recently they were well in sync, but now she was… crossing a boundary? He was confused at what he was feeling over this. It didn’t feel like that, but he just didn’t like it, not after… well he still wanted an answer to something else and that was just that. He shouldn’t be worrying about this. He didn’t need to.

“Well, you both sound really good. I think you did better than I ever could with Counting Stars.” You didn’t seem to notice Sans’s internal panic behind his guarded expression, but then again, you were looking shyly down, finding something to do with your hands by flipping sequins on your dress with your fingernails.

“what you did with what you sang was pretty amazing. i could _feel_ it. it takes a lot to make not only the judges speechless, well expect one, heh, but the monsters that were watching you, including me. it was so well done we forgot we had… various appendages to clap.” Sans chuckled. You laughed with him.

“Are you serious about the appendages?” You asked, snorting.

“…well yeah, monsters are pretty amorphous when it comes to the different types mixing. there’s even one kid who doesn’t have arms, but he gets around pretty good.” Sans shrugged.

“So… one more question…” You trailed off.

“shoot away.”

“Everything that I can’t explain with monsters, do I just assume the answer is magic?” You asked. Sans burst out laughing, like that was the funniest joke he had ever heard.

“you… you’ve come closer to the concept faster than… any other human… with… without me messin’ with ya!” he wheezed in between laughs. He sighed, finally getting over how hysterically ironic that he was planning on saying something like that when the query came up. “uggggg… but not everything is discounted by magic. well, uh, i hope you’re feelin’ better. i gotta go meet with my group and figure out what’s going on, then beg the queen to let the ambassador to stay up tonight. i owe ‘em one.” he winked and got up reluctantly.

“Me too, I guess.” When your gaze flickered up briefly and you saw a bit of worry on his face you added quickly to that. “I’ll find them ok.”

“ok. you take care of yourself, ‘cause someone really cares about you.” He added before heading to a nearby pillar. When the pillar blocked your veiw of him, you didn’t see him walk on the other side and that confused you, but you discounted it. Maybe that was only explained by magic. Oh well. Maybe you could ask Papyrus about Sans sometime to see if they both had some cool kinds of magic.

It was nice that he sat down with you. It was nice he told you that people care. It made you feel warm inside as you remembered your life was actually pretty amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh.


	10. Shut Up And Dance With Me! Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's dance!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying your holidays!

You bounced around slightly in line, excited, but also curious why the line was moving very slowly.

“Ugh, what the fuck is going on up there? It’s past six!” Conner groaned impatiently. “And what happened to your make-up?

“Calm down, they need to ID everyone and everyone needs a badge and be up to dress standards.” You told him. “And my make-up cracked. It looks cool.”

“You calm down! You’re bouncing off the walls!”

“My feet _hurt_. I have to move.” You told him, rolling your eyes.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up front, Sans was the one holding up everything.

“Sorry, buddy, can’t go through.”

“why not, nick? c’mon, i got a tux on.” Sans pleaded.

“It’s a shirt. Sorry, get a real one or a nice cosplay.” The monster chuckled.

“fine. but only because that kid wants me to go to the ball.” Sans sighed and disappeared. The human employed with Nick jumped.

“Don’t worry about it, Benny. Keep carding everyone. He’ll be right back.” He paused and looked at his owl searcher. “Art, sweep the room.” His searcher cooed and launched off his shoulder. Sure enough, Nick was right and Sans was back pretty fast. He had quickly put the cloak he had on yesterday over his clothes.

“Nope. Try again.”

“fuck it, i’m out.” Sans sighed in frustration and disappeared. The owl returned and whispered to him.

“Hold the fort down, Benny. He snuck in. I’ll explain later.” Nick sighed and came back a minute later carrying Sans by the hoods of his jacket and cloak. “You got anything to say for yourself?” Nick growled at him.

“welp. i got caught.” Sans huffed. The owl streaked out, the small dragon fighting her in her talons.

“Let her go Artimise!” Nick told his searcher and Comic was dropped from the other searcher’s grip. Comic had just enough time to right herself like a cat to land.

“i’m guessing we’re banned?” Sans asked.

“You have _one_ more chance. Just don’t sneak in again.” Nick told him and he blipped out of his grip.

“Glad some of you are handling this too.” The other guard said off hand.

“Me too. There shouldn’t be any more problems. Monster or otherwise.”  

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now that the line was moving faster, your curiosity about why it had been a slow crawl quickly melted away. You said hello to the two guys running the front.

“Alright, taken, complicated or let’s meet?” Nick asked you as Conner was being asked the same by the human.

“Taken.” He gave you a red band out of the many he was holding and Conner received the same from the other guy. Conner smiled, offered you his arm and you took it while looking around the filling ballroom.

The ballroom was now dark, with a lot of flashing lights. It seemed unrecognizable from when you had visited it a little while ago. The music was being DJed by Napstablook currently and a ghost fish was floating high around the ceiling. You wondered if that was his searcher?

“Look!” You shouted over the low beat of the music and pointed up.

“What?” Conner shouted back.

“I think it’s another searcher!” You told him. He scowled while looking up, but gained a charming, devious smile when his gaze reconnected to you and swung you _right in the middle of the dance floor_. You froze, your chest tight. Luckily, you unfroze because there weren’t very many people on it and awkwardly scurried away.

“Hey! Let’s dance!” he shouted as you edged out of the area. You motioned for him to follow you to the end of the floor where you could easily escape the growing amount of people. He grudgingly followed you and what ensued was a lot of missteps and toe jams and it really didn’t help your already aching feet. Even though you were having fun still, Conner pulled you to the side to the rows of chairs set up against the wall to sit down.

“Hey, why can’t we dance more? We were just getting into the rhythm of things!” You complained.

“No we weren’t!” He told you. “You suck at dancing…” he muttered, but you only heard his low voice mutter a bit.

“What?” you asked over the music.

“Nothing!”

Eventually, Tom found you, in his cosplay of the current anime girl he admired with a majestic pink dress, a green wristband around his wrist. The guys started talking, but you were getting antsy again. And hungry. You ignored your hunger and dragged your boyfriend, once again out to dance. After one song, you got disappointed when he went back to Tom, sitting down. So you huffed unhappily, sitting next to them again and started staring into space after complaining you were hungry twice. This was becoming less and less fun.

“Hey, ____, let me take your bag, so N00b’ll take it back to your room.” Conner told you. You smiled. He was being sweet! You happily handed over your bag.

“Take care of it, my babies are in there!” you patted the pocket that had your 3DS in it to signify. You trusted both guys to handle your systems with care. You watched him as he left.

“So… what’s the deal with you two?” Tom asked after Conner had left.

“Deal? Nothing. We’re doing fine.” This was normal at dances. Conner wasn’t angry or really too annoyed. All around, you felt better compared to earlier.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m happy.” You smiled genuinely. Just then, a Vocaloid song grabbed Tom’s attention.

“Yes!” he exclaimed.

“You wanna dance?” You laughed. “Conner _knows_ by now that we’re all friends.” In response, Tom leaned backward, further into the seat and motioned you closer.

“…I don’t know how to dance…” he whispered.

“Dancing’s easy!” you giggled. “C’mon, kick off your heels and let’s go!” You pulled him over to the edge of the dance floor where you were both semi-comfortable. “Ok, so now just do whatever feels right.” You told him, swaying your body to the backbeat. In under thirty seconds, Tom stopped after trying it.

“I’m, uh, gonna go sit down.” You sighed as he briskly and stiffly walked away. So much for dancing with someone you knew.

“Oof!” you clonked into someone much taller and solid. Oh, you hoped you didn’t just destroy a cosplay…

“HELLO! AH! MY NEW HUMAN FRIEND! HOW FORTUNATE YOU BUMPED INTO ME! I AM TRYING TO FIND THE AMBASSADOR! CAN YOU HELP ME?” Yeah, it was Papyrus you bumped into. Whew, no harm done and you could easily understand his booming voice.

“I can look around the sides for them!” You shouted up.

“THANK YOU, HUMAN! BE CAREFUL, THEY’RE SMALL!”

“Maybe for you!” You giggled, your heart rate picking up, eager for some silliness. It always seemed to happen around monsters and it was fun.

You walked around the large squared, dance floor trying to look for the small child, but no such luck. You looked up at the stage and noticed the band was starting to gather their instruments. They must’ve had the next song. You turned your attention to the turntable and there was that kid, talking to Napstablook. Well, signing. You decided to go halfway up the stairs on the side of the stage to reach them.

“i suppose i could do something like that. i’ll tell them.” 

“Hey, Papyrus is looking for you.” You pointed to him in the middle of the dancing crowd where he was searching very low to the ground. They giggled and signed something, but they didn’t have their whiteboard.

“um, frisk says they were just requesting a song and papyrus must not have seen them when they told their group…” Napstablook translated for you.

“Ok. Good to know. Thank you!” You told them. You tried to get Papyrus’s attention to avoid going out into the center of the dance floor.

“heya, ____.” You whirled around to see a very dapperly dressed skeleton in a dark pinstriped suit. You face immediately flushed. For some unknown reason, that was your body’s usual response to someone you knew dressing up in a suit. You hadn’t even known Sans for a week and you got excited seeing him as a friend in a suit? Gah! What was wrong with you? It took you all your willpower to not cover your face.

“Hi!” He couldn’t tell your face was horribly hot and probably red. You didn’t have to worry.

“someone in there you’re tryin’ to get?” he asked, lifting a brow and taking off his matching fedora. He saw how your face flushed in the dark. That was interesting, but you didn’t seem any more nervous than when you were walking around the vendor room the day before with him.

“Uh, yeah. Your brother.” You pointed him out and Sans chuckled softly at him on all fours. No one seemed to mind him like that really. Good, he didn’t notice and you maintained a casual tone! It was a good thing you had gotten better at that.

“is he looking for frisk again?”

“Yeah. I found Frisk, but…” You trailed off.

“i get it. don’t worry about it so much. frisk’ll go over and tell him if you can’t.” Sans assured you.

“Ok. Thanks.” you smiled.

“now if you’ll excuse me, i have to get up there. i’m sure that kid had something to do with getting me to play tonight.” Sans chuckled and sighed. As soon as his back turned, you started snorting. You caught just a glimpse of his wide grin and the far side of a socket watching you from a sideways glance, his eye-light filling it a bit confused as you quietly laughed. What did he care? That wasn’t his concern… wasn’t it?

“Heya Sanzy, I see Nick got to ya?” Leo grinned. His grin was reminiscent of a jack-o-lantern, but that was standard for fire monsters.

“you’re lucky i like that kid, leo, otherwise i woulda ‘ported home and slept.” Sans told him grudgingly.

“Ah, c’mon, this is the first time in forever I get to return the favor in years and you’re gonna be sour ‘bout it?” Leo chuckled.

“ like a lemon." Sans chuckled. "what’re we playing leo?” he asked in a lighter tone.

“One of your favorites on the ‘bone an’ heads up, we don’t need ya all night. That wouldn’t be fair to ya.”

“thanks buddy.” Sans sighed, putting a mute into his trombone.

“Nap’ll give ya the go.” Leo told him, swinging his saxophone to the side. Once he was cued after a second of silence, he started blasting the meme-inducing song’s melody.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XEdhED-d1E)

“ _The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war,_

_Ah, the mighty ‘bone brings the freaks out to the floor!_

_The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war,_

_Ah, the mighty ‘bone brings the freaks out to the floor…”_

As soon as you saw the band was playing “Freaks,” you squealed. It was just so fitting not only monsters playing it, but at a convention where outside of it, quite often many of the people were considered exactly that. Including you.

Sans took a deep breath, even during his musical break, he had to fill in for singing. He knew he wasn’t _bad_ or shy about it, but it was just one more thing he had to do…

_“tell me, tell me, where the freaks at?_

_tell me, tell me, where the freaks at -freaks at –freaks at –freaks at –freaks at –freaks at_

_fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre_

__

_tell me where the freaks at!”_

__

What was it about monsters singing? Were they all this good at it? So many more questions flooded your head, but at the same time you just wanted to dance.

__

_“We get that bass thumpin’,_

__

_People jumpin’ all over the world_

__

_We got those speakers pumpin’_

__

_Sanzy Skele for the women with curves_

__

_Got that freak flow, freak show_

__

_Welcome to the circus_

__

_Let the leaders lead,_

__

_Preachers preach_

__

_Welcome to the service!_

__

_Close the curtains on ‘em it they’re actin’ like they never heard us!_

__

_See we do this for a purpose just to keep that fire burnin’_

__

_And we don’t need no water_

__

_Let that mother mother burn!”_

__

You hadn’t expected Leo’s hand to turn into the run-of-the-mill orange-colored flame, but he was singing intensely and you heard the momentary yelp of surprise from the crowd who saw it before they all realized everything was fine. Just a fire monster. Given what he was, now that you thought about it, it shouldn’t surprise you that he was intense.

__

_“Sanzy play your ‘bone let the people go berserk!”_

__

You saw the mute in Sans’s trombone float out in a blue glow and just kinda stay there in the air. You urged your brain to wonder later and just take in everything around you.

__

_“The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war,_

__

_Ah, the mighty ‘bone brings the freaks out to the floor!_

__

_The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war,_

__

_Ah, the mighty ‘bone brings the freaks out to the floor…”_

__

Sans caught sight of your dress with a dark shimmer. Wow, you were really moving and laughing at yourself. You stopped for a moment to wave at someone and motion them to come over, but no one joined you. Well, that was a shame. You looked like you really wanted to dance with someone.

__

_“tell me, tell me, where the freaks at?_

__

_tell me, tell me, where the freaks at -freaks at –freaks at –freaks at –freaks at –freaks at_

__

_fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre-fre_

__

_tell me where the freaks at!”_

__

_“The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war,_

__

_Ah, the mighty ‘bone brings the freaks out to the floor!_

__

_The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war,_

__

_Ah, the mighty ‘bone brings the freaks out to the floor…”_

__

As soon as the song was over, Napstablook took over again to allow the band to figure out what was next.

__

“hey, leo, can you get these guys to play that jazz one i like?” Sans asked, watching you walk off toward some chairs and to someone in a pink dress.

__

“You got it buddy, ‘cause you’re playing tonight. Jen’ll get Comic for ya when we need you.”

__

“thanks.”

__

“Alright guys, the nice’n easy. Sanzy’s gotta girl in mind.” Leo grinned deviously watching Sans slowly working his way through the crowd. "Nap, I gotta proposition after the request on us..."

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who here has been to a Cosplay Ball? And if you have, did you go as someone?


	11. Shut Up And Dance With Me! Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dancing time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! These notes were pretty much forgotten until like the day after the chapter was posted... Well, in my defense I got excited. I moved to an apartment! Yay! I hope you enjoy your chapter dear readers!

In your frenzy of pointing your fingers every which way and twirling during the song, you noticed a dark figure sit next to Tom and even though you still wanted to have fun, by his body language, you were sure something was up. So you did what any good friend would do. You hopped, skipped and leaped your way back to him, which wasn’t hard. It turned out this guy was subtly hitting on Tom, which was ok, but Tom was a very _particular_ guy and seemed hugely uncomfortable about the entire thing.

“Hey, let’s go get a drink!” You blurted out loudly and linked arms with him.

“Yeah- um, y-yeah…” he spluttered as you pulled him away in mid-conversation.

“You feeling ok?” You asked him.

“Just- just not used to that… Man, that guy was creepy.” Tom laughed nervously as you handed him a paper cup of water from a conveniently placed water cooler. He was bit shaky. Hopefully, it was only his nerves and not anxiety. But both would calm down in a little bit. “Thanks, ____. You saved me back there.”

“Well, I think he got the message.” You pointed to the cluster of seats that were now vacated.

“Thank god.” He breathed. You went back with him and sat down. To pass time on the song that had started, you started humming the melody and swaying to the lowest beat.

“hey that’s pretty nice. ya hear this one before?” You squeaked because you had been in your own little world.

“Oh! Hi, Sans! I, uh, no. I don’t know this song. Music is just getting pretty easy to predict, I guess.” You shrugged, smiling.

“Not to sound rude, but why is a monster talking to you?” Tom whispered into your ear.

“Tom, this is Sans. He’s pretty cool and I met him yesterday. He’s _really_ good at singing and… apparently trombone too.” You smirked.

“i’m just fulla surprises.” Sans chuckled. His searcher dropped onto his shoulder. “ah! comic!” he started struggling with her as she chittered in his ear insistently. His cool demeanor dropped as he was talking with her and Tom looked curiously on as you waited patiently to hear what that was about. It ended with her biting one of his fingers and refusing to let go. Sans looked sheepishly at you, his face getting slightly darker from blush. “well, uh, to the point, i guess. you looked pretty lonely out there when you were dancing. do you wanna dance? i’m not hitting on you or anything, actually,” he held up his arm, with Comic swinging off his fingers and pointed to his wrist. “it’s pretty complicated for me right now and i’d rather not make it worse.” He had a yellow wristband on. Comic dropped from his hand.

“was that really so hard?” she puffed at Sans and hopped off.

“Sure, I’ll dance… just stick to the edge. Please don’t push me into the crowd…” You told him.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrvDq4Py1QE)

“no worries. i like keeping a low profile too. we can dance out here.” he took your hand as the pause between one song and the next ended and the piano sounded like a tolling bell, slowly getting a feel better tone. You weren’t sure of what to make of it, as the drum set player chimed in with their symbols. Sans had led you over to the back of the dance floor, where there was a lot of space, was less crowded and easy to escape over toward the chairs if you felt like you were done. You felt pretty comfortable with where you were as you nervously looked around, until the song sped up a little. Sans took your hands and you realized this was a slow dance. He sorta swung you slowly at arm’s length away, but it started to feel uncomfortable to you.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I-” You awkwardly spluttered and pulled away shyly.

“relax. it doesn’t stay this way for long. it’s only a one step, two step right now. mind if i get close?” he lead you tentatively, his hands never leaving yours.

“I-I guess not.” Your face was hot. It was mostly from dancing earlier, but a little bit from just now. Leo started playing his sax with a warm tone.

“this ok?” his hand hovered over the modest part of your waist, not too high, not too low as he let go of one hand. You placed your free hand lightly on his shoulder as you nodded. The stiffness in your body started to relax as you realized he wasn’t even going to touch you unless necessary.

“Sorry… I’m not used to dancing with a stranger…” You said quietly.

“neither am i. it’s ok.” Sans told you gently. You were aware of the sax wailing as nearly everything stopped except the bass and drums speeding up. “you ready?” Before you could reply, the two of you were moving faster. You squeaked at the sudden pull, but adjusted easily, reading into his movements. It was always the same, which didn’t make you trip up and you could feel yourself having fun in the moment. He swung you to the side, making you let go of his shoulder, and lifted his brow in amused look for a moment while the music lulled. The next second you were back in his respective grip again as the jazzy music swung. You laughed, now having fun and his grin grew as he felt the shift in your mood. This time in the lull, he let go completely.

“say, you’re pretty good. see if you can copy this.” He did a small repetitive four-step dance while the bass had a solo. You giggled and stepped next to him after watching him and easily got the rhythm.

“This is easy!” You laughed at him.

“alright, then what about this?” he started to add to what he was doing, and it was more complex, a turn here, another movement there as you watched, continuing to move coolly, as he did before. Comic landed on his shoulder again as he tried to do a synchronized wave with his arms, making him fail. You couldn’t help but laugh at that as she slid off and relaunched herself with a chirp. 

“I don’t know about that, but what about this?” you asked happily as the sax joined the bass in its solo. You did a quick spin on the ball of your foot and jumped, landing on your left foot, lowering your right leg slowly, keeping in time. You shook your hips and twirled, your dress flowering outward a little bit and fading into a dark shimmer. You took a deep breath as you stopped, enjoying the burn of exertion in your lungs. Then you slid you left leg out of the slit of your dress when you decided to showcase how great your legs were by a short high kick and twirled back over to his side. He grabbed your hands as the sax wailed again and dipped you.

“you’re really good. i’m impressed.” You heard a low cheer behind you when the instruments lowered their volume and you saw the wide circle that had formed around you and Sans. He noticed too and felt you tense up. “it’s ok, focus on me and have some fun.” He told you, before pulling you effortlessly up. He had to be pretty strong. Although you were short, you were heavy from your wiry build.

“Ok.” You told him quietly and you did. You started to notice drops of sweat on Sans’s forehead, but his eyes were bright as he kept up with the fast pace.

“next one’s a twirl.” He warned you. You squeaked as you felt something else take hold of you and his fingers slipped out your grip as you rose, a blue aura surrounding you.

Sans himself panicked internally. First his searcher, then his magic? Something was not right about this and he didn’t like it, but when he saw you getting over the initial surprise and laughing about floating, managing to use some momentum to spin, he slowly brought you down. You were breathless. _What_ just happened? It was like being touched by a spark, but not at all like that, because you knew what electrocution felt like.

“i am _so_ sorry about that. i don’t know what i was thinking, i-” He stopped because you were laughing and continued twirling, like a top, faster and faster, until he had to catch you from becoming so dizzy. He gasped, but then realized you were fine with it. He sighed as there was a ping of a single instrument and you brought your hands into his confidently as he led again, slowly due to your dizziness. You head ended up on his shoulder. Probably not the best idea, but you weren’t about to fall. You sighed happily as the world slowly stopped spinning around you. There were so many people, but you didn’t need to pay them any attention. You felt safe and slightly tingly. Sensing you recovered fast, it was almost like he was in sync with you and he let you hold your weight again. Sans felt a low rumble erupt from his chest. Thank god you weren’t on it anymore to feel it and thank Asgore you couldn’t hear it.

“Everything’s ok, just warn me next time.” You told him, trying to catch your breath. His soul hammered when you said that. There was going to be a _next time?_

“heh, alright.” He felt his magic pulse as he grinned while you looked curiously up at him in the last dip he intended to make where the last few notes turned in his opinion, dark.

“Um, hey, you can let me up now…” His soul suddenly stopped as he stared. Son of an Aaron! He probably held you a little longer than intended. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Comic was purring in his ear, again on his shoulder as he pulled you up.

“whoops, heh, sorry. dramatic effect much?” he laughed nervously and pulled out the handkerchief he had stuffed in his pocket from last time he wore the suit to dab at the sweat on his face.

“Whew, yeah. I’m going to go sit down with my friend for a little bit, you’re welcome to join us.” You told him, pointing to where Tom was going back to sit.

“nah. i think my friends are taking a break for now too. i’ll, uh, see what they’re up to.” Sans tried to stay nonchalant. Did he think his soul had stopped? No, it was beating faster than- well he’d rather not get into _that_ train of thought. You were definitely the cause of it, there was no question. He sat down next to Undyne and Alphys, who were whispering, while Papyrus settled in next to him, brimming in enthusiasm as usual.

“I DID NOT KNOW YOU HAD IT IN YOU, BROTHER! NOT ONLY DID YOU MOVE TODAY, YOU EXERCISED!” Papyrus exclaimed. Oh, god, no! Dancing was considered exercise! Time to remedy the situation.

“say, bro, you see any salsa around?”

“NO SANS, I DO NOT!” Papyrus looked at Sans, grinning, and very susceptible to the puns ahead.

“darn, i was looking forward to it. i thought they were going to mix it with tango sauce.” Papyrus’s grin faltered. “ya know, a _free_ style thing they’d have here, right?” Papyrus groaned at the terrible pun.

“SANS! NO! AND I WAS SO PROUD OF YOU!” His brother yelled at him.

“i guess i’ll get right to the _pointe_ here. i think a sink could do better than me. at least it can tap dance.” Sans ginned as his brother huffed.

“SANS, CAN WE ENJOY ONE EVENING WITHOUT YOUR HORRENDOUS PUNS?” Papyrus whined.

“only if you can tell me why comic and forte are terrible dancers.” Sans grinned wider.

“SANS, YOU BETTER NOT!”

“it’s ‘cause-”

“SANS! I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT!”

“-they both-”

“I’M NOT LISTENING!” Papyrus put his hands over his ears.

“-have two left feet.” Comic snickered with him as the monsters around him groaned.

“Hey, Sans, who were you dancing with?” Alphys asked him after another minute.

“just someone almost as cool as pap.” Sans told her, his grin now straining. Alphys and Undyne giggled at each other as both skeletons looked at them.

“I ship it!” Alphys whispered to Undyne as she grinned sharply.

Oh, no. Sans knew what that meant. They were going to try to set him up when he didn’t need it. _You_ didn’t need it.

“uh, um, she has a boyfriend.” He blurted out uncomfortably.

“Damn. And I was going to try to get her number for you!” Undyne laughed.

“THERE IS NO NEED UNDYNE, I HAVE IT!” Papyrus told her, showing her his phone.

“That would’ve been even better!” Undyne laughed.

“look, this was just for fun. she needed a break, y’know? i cut her one.” Sans muttered.

“You used your magic, either she agreed to it or SOMETHING happened.” Undyne jabbed a finger at him.

“i gave her a warning.” Sans lied, his cheeks flushing dark over how much talk was coming out of this. Comic came back up to Sans.

“why are you lying again? you told me only if you had to.” she whispered.

“yeah, alright, i’ll go. look, guys, leo called me up again. i gotta go.” Sans backed away from his friends.

“sans, you can’t hide from me.” Comic warned him as he walked around the crowd.

“please don’t, not you out of everyone. our life is complicated enough right now. it’s better this way.” he told her back. “besides, she’ll be alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Right now I don't have my wi-fi up as I write this... And I am using data... But I suppose that's ok for now. As always comments are always welcome!


	12. She's Not Alright.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so, trigger warning there's domestic violence. Probably not the best thing to post on Valentine's Day, but, oh well. I can give you a short summary of what happened at in the bottom notes if you would like to avoid this chapter!  
> Update: Sorry guys! I guess my copy and pasting skills aren't as great as I thought! If you thought Papyrus's entrance was awkward of him suddenly just being there, it was because there was actually a little bit somehow omitted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did ya guys miss me? I missed me too! Writing is getting harder to get done because I transfered to another college! And unlike community college work, the load is about 10 times harder... not to mention starting the gen chem 2 course without going through gen chem 1(the credit transfered for chem 1 but not 2, so I did it. it's just biting me in the butt now... three years later). In any case, this story has been eaten away, whittled down and every other thing you can think of when I was not studying or eating or sleeping(those things are very important to stay on my A-game). Oh! Yeah, also I'm attempting to write a dark sci-fi novel, because that would be really cool if I could finish that and get it published.

You panted happily, trotting back to where Tom was, even though Sans decided not to join you. That was fine. He had friends too. From how nervous he was getting, you hoped it had been just that magic. Maybe he couldn’t help himself and forgot you weren’t a monster? It definitely didn’t seem like his first time dancing and given that, it was probably another monster he was partnered with. That was if he danced? Ugh, your head was above the clouds, but when did you ever really feel this dreamy?  
“____!” You were suddenly snapped out of it. “What the hell was that?” You hadn’t realized your boyfriend was back. Tom, for being such a tall guy, shrunk.  
“What? Dancing?” You asked innocently enough while your stomach sank from Conner’s tone of voice. Oh, he was mad. But why? He told you he wanted to have fun way before the trip and let you do what you wanted for this ball. You’d be damned if you didn’t have fun here.

[♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQWlL-jj5Q)

_“No, why were you dancing with that fucking monster?”_ he hissed at you.  
“He asked. Nicely too, unlike someone I know.” You crossed your arms and sat. “And he didn’t catapult me in the middle of the fucking crowd.” Conner looked at you like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  
“That thing about crowded places is in your head! Remember FaryCon? I _proved_ it was fake, ____.” He growled at you.  
“I told you FaryCon was different.” You argued back. That was the local Con your college did. It was small and so were some of the surrounding areas, so you knew almost everyone who attended by name. Surrounded by people you knew did not cause a panic attack.  
“You may be a good actor, but you don’t fool me.” Conner got in your face, then grabbed your arm, taking you away from the ball. As you left, Nick’s eyes flickered over to you, concerned about how you were looking at the ground as the guy who just walked in led you out by the wrist, but you seemingly were in consent because you didn’t struggle and nearly matched pace.  
“Damn, if it were _anyone_ else, anyone else, they’d be gone.” He told you angrily in a vacated space. “How many times do I have to-” he stopped in midsentence, overturning his palm of his gloved hand, which was now silver. You could see it in his eyes in that second.  
Pure.  
Rage.  
“You bitch.” Conner’s voice was deadly low and you cowered, but you trusted him. It was just a mistake between the hot ballroom, your dancing and having a serious conversation. “I told you, you were going to get it all over me, but did you listen? _Nooo_ , you had to find the most obnoxious, melty fucking make-up and put it all over yourself, just to get it on me!”  
“I’m sorry.” You trembled. There was no reasoning with him now. You just wanted your Conner back, so you had to be in agreement with him now. Later, he would listen, you told yourself.  
“You better fucking be.”  
It was the jolt that surprised you, not the slight pain you felt after.  
“Where’s your phone?” he demanded.  
Did he just-?  
“I said, where is your phone?” Conner demanded again.  
He did. With little regret, judging by his reaction to your tears, he had slapped you.  
“It was in my bag.” You choked out.  
“ _Liar!_ You have it! You have it!”  
Something in you sparked. You had to get away. Break up with him, yes, but not here. No, not here. Not yet. Just get away.  
“_____! Come back here!” Now his voice sounded desperate, as if that sweet honey in it was going to soothe what he had just done to you.  
No one.  
Not even him.  
No one was going to beat you and it was just a matter of time before it came to that, you realized, sobering up.  
“ _____!_ ”  
You were much faster than him. Thank god he was a tad out of shape.  
Tom. Shit! You both had abandoned Tom and not on a good note either.  
“Whoa, whoa, hey there human, what’s the fire?” The tall blue monster stopped you.  
“I, uh, I forgot a friend.” You told him.  
“I see. You’re going to have to slow down in there, ok?” Nick told you gently and you nodded. “Are you alright?”  
“I’ll be ok. I just got some bad news, that’s all.” You told him. That would account for your make-up smears and tears, right? It took him another second to decide and he hesitantly let you inside.  
“Get Sterba.” He whispered to his searcher.  
You looked for Tom where he had apparently had been left, but he was gone. The dance floor was filled with swaying people. You instantly felt sad, because he probably ‘noped’ out. And now you were alone. Cornered.  
Well, not completely. You could hide around the water cooler and watch to see if Conner walked in. More water would do you some good anyway. You were getting a headache.  
“NEW HUMAN FRIEND! WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU!” Papyrus’s voice did not help things, but you smiled apprehensively anyway as he approached.

“Hiya!” That’s right you weren’t alone. Papyrus would help you, maybe Sans if you asked him, but you weren’t about to get your hopes up.

“FORTE SEEMS TO THINK YOU ARE IN SOME SORT OF TROUBLE!”  
“Shh… quiet down. I just had an argument with my boyfriend. That’s all. Don’t worry about it too much.” You saw confusion stir in his sockets.  
“Human, if there is something bothering you that I can help with, you can tell me. You seem preoccupied.” He was definitely right, because your eyes would dart to the door periodically. Your head seemed to pound along with the background beat. No, you couldn’t just dump all of your problems on him and you wondered if he would even understand at the same time.  
“Oh, heh-heh, I’m just looking for my other friends, that’s all really.” You laughed nervously and pulled out your phone from your bra. For some reason, you expected it to be smeared with make-up by now, but the bra must have absorbed anything that got on it. Papyrus gave you a quizzical look, then brightened.  
“OF COURSE! THEY MUST BE FASHIONABLY LATE!” he proposed.  
“Actually, I think he left.” You sighed, now realizing you did not have Tom’s number. You debated whether or not you should text someone. It seemed like the whole group would only gossip, nothing would stay a secret between anyone, so you decided not to, to avoid questions. You didn’t want this to go badly for anyone or for anyone to jump to something radical too fast. All in all, it was your final decision and you decided no one would hear about it until it happened.  
"UNDYNE! I DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE YOU NEAR THE WATER COOLER! ER... WELL, YOU DO LOOK SWEATY, HAVE SOME!"Papyrus handed her a cup and the fish lady who had approached took it.  
“Thanks, Pap!” she grinned and threw the water on her face instead of drinking it. “So, Nick was having some security issues and we gotta find that hu-” she paused, looking at you and she went from business back to a dangerous sharp-toothed grin. “WAY TO GO, PAP! Now THAT’S what I’m talking about taking the initiative!” she slapped him on the back.  
“YES! I ALWAYS TAKE THE INITIATIVE!” he puffed out his chest in pride, but then stiffened a little bit. “WHAT EXACTLY DID I TAKE THE INITIATIVE ON?”  
“You found the human we were going to look for!” Undyne told him.  
“OF COURSE I DID! THIS IS MY NEW HUMAN FRIEND, UNDYNE, THE ONE WHO DANCED WITH SANS!” he told her proudly.  
“It is kinda hard to miss that Papyrus. Didn’t we meet this morning?” Undyne shifted her attention to you, but before you could answer she did for you. “Oh YEAH! Before we got here! Didn’t you have more make-up on?”  
“Yeah, after the talent show, it kinda melted, then it cracked, ‘cause I went outside. I guess it started melting when I started dancing too…” you winced.  
“Man, I could’ve helped you fix it, if you wanted!” she said excitedly.  
“What?” You asked.  
“Listen, human. You’re tolerating ME, not to mention, THIS lovable guy.” She put Papyrus in a head lock, which wasn’t hard because she was just a little bit taller than him.  
“UNDYNE! PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!” Papyrus almost sounded desperate.  
“You’re like the first human I met who HASN’T run away from me, EVER!” The fish lady exclaimed. “Not even, the am-” she stopped talking when a lithe narrow form climbed its way around her and up to her shoulder, whispering in her finny ear. “RIGHT! Uh, we were wondering if you could use a ride back to the hotel.”  
“I don’t… feel, I don’t feel comfortable with that.” you stuttered.  
“Like HELL! That’s all you want to do, get away, right?” she asked you.  
“UNDYNE, WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE! YOU’RE MAKING HER MORE UNCOMFORTABLE!” Papyrus scolded her. “I AM SORRY, UNDYNE IS ALMOST ALWAYS… INTENSE FOR HUMAN STANDARDS…” He tried to explain to you. You were having a hard time focusing on his voice.  
What were you going to do about Conner? You couldn’t break up with him. Not yet. Every pounding of your heartbeat went directly to your head, but instead of compressing it, you felt woozy and lightened. You were trapped. Trapped.  
“HEY! Sparkle! You listening? I’m Head of the Royal Guard, let me tah a oo a ou!” her words became fuzzy as black creeped into your vision, first from your peripheral and advancing like an weak TV signal. Your eyes were open, but you couldn’t see. The next second you went limp, a cold rush of heat rippling across your body.  
Numb. You felt numb as you tried to struggle out of your stupor.  
“DON’T get up. This might tingle a bit.” And it did. Some sort of vibrant humming shifted up and down your body quickly. “Ok. Water.” Your vision cleared enough to see the flash of green in the dark room. Nothing was registering though. All you knew right then and there was to grab the cup of water that came into contact with your hands.  
“HUMAN FRIEND, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”  
The first thing you could focus on was glowing ears on a skeletal wolf, who whined at you. His pointed ears pulled back in worry.  
“Yeah… I’m sorry…. I fainted…” you groaned.  
“Alright, seriously, Sparkle, I’m not going to feel great until you get back to your hotel room.”  
“…____...” you winced. You didn’t like that nickname.  
“What?”  
“THAT IS THE HUMAN’S NAME!” Papyrus blatantly shouted and you sighed.  
“Look, Head of the Royal Guard is kinda like a police officer, but for monsters.” She told you. “I can take you back.” She repeated.  
“Ok.” You agreed this time. She was only trying to be nice, you kept telling yourself. She knew nothing other than you fainted and monsters didn’t hurt humans, right?  
“Hey, Papyrus, we’re going to head back. Take care of Alphys for me?” she asked him.  
“OF COURSE UNDYNE!” He grinned and walked away.  
“So my friend said something about someone giving you a hard time.”  
Fuck.  
“Uh, no, not really.” You lied.  
“Look if you don’t want to talk about it, fine. At least consider it as a problem and if you have one, go to security or one of us, we’ll cover for you.” Her one piercing yellow eye was watching your every reaction as you got up from the multiple chairs you were laying across.  
“Ok.” You said quietly and nodded.  
“____! Tell him you’re fine and we were just leaving this event.” Conner greeted you outside the ball. His gaze was full of razorblades towards the monsters.  
“I’m going back to the hotel. I have a ride.” You told him in the same quiet tone.  
“It’s not even nine!”  
“I’m going back.” Your throat tightened, holding back the oncoming tears. You could do this. No crying. He did this to you. But you loved him. _But you loved him?_ Was that just an excuse? Your back straightened as you walked away with Undyne. You felt defiant and Conner was in a stupor from you making your own decision.  
You needed to make a plan. It was February, but had planned to go to a wedding with him in August. You could hold out that long. Your friends didn’t praise you for your Patience for nothing. In the mean time, everything was alright. You knew through the time you had with him, he was too dependent on you now. There was no way he was going to try to get rid of his gravy train, even if he racked up two hundred in debt by you. Actually, now that you thought about it, it was probably more with how many rides you were giving him during normal school weeks. He gave himself that ‘ceiling.’ Before, it may have been easy to brush off the debt, but now… the thought burned through your neurons. That was something you needed as a college student. Not something to burn through, like his own bank account. As you sat quietly next to Undyne in the limo she had taken, you became angry. And that scared you. You were not at all an angry person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Reminiscing by Billy Joel  
> So, reader's boyfriend finally snapped and verbal turned into physical abuse and the doorman- doormonster? noticed and got Undyne. Undyne to the rescue! Reader starts to come to terms with conflicting emotions.  
> *note* -this actually did not happen to me, but it came close. "Bitchtits," the codename for the asshole who Conner is based on knew it was over if it ever happened. (I mean it actually is right now so... my gain :)

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm looking for fan art for my new AU Compasstale! Feel free to chat me up on my tumblr at [ Cyan's tumblr! ](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/patiencecyansoul)  
> I am not the greatest updater on chapters through there, but I am certainly a chatterbox!


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